Housing headlines
... aren't very pretty today.
Home Prices and Consumer Sentiment SlideNew York Times, United States - 43 minutes agoBy MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM Home prices across the country continued to fall in January at record rates while one measure of consumer confidence reached a ... |
Atlanta home prices decline in JanuaryBizjournals.com, NC - 1 hour agoMetro Atlanta home prices were down 4.8 percent over 12 months ending in January, according to a nationwide study of home prices that also reported record ... |
 | US Home Prices Drop in JanuaryThe Associated Press - 2 hours agoNEW YORK (AP) — Home prices in many cities continued to plunge by record levels in January as sellers cut their asking bids and rising foreclosures took ... |
Street Eases On Housing DownerForbes, NY - 1 hour agoInvestors snapped up bonds in lieu of equities in New York trading Tuesday, after the latest data on home prices shook up the market. ... |
Hooray for CharlotteNew York Times Blogs, NY - 1 hour agoCharlotte, NC, is the last of the 20 major markets to show a year-over-year increase in single family home prices, as monitiored by the Standard ... |
Home prices dive 10.7% in JanuaryInvestmentNews, NY - 31 minutes agoBy Aaron Siegel Residential real estate prices fell precipitously in most metro areas in January, according to the Standard &Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price ... |
Urban Home Values Plunge In JanuaryConsumer Affairs - 3 hours agoBy Mark Huffman On the heels of yesterday's National Association of Realtors report showing a big February drop in home values, another private survey ... |
Charlotte alone in housing-price gainsBizjournals.com, NC - 2 hours agoCharlotte was the sole US metropolitan area to record a gain in housing prices in January among the 20 markets tracked by Standard & Poor's and Case-Shiller ... |
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You almost want to go back to bed and cry after looking at these headlines and while there are problems and corrections going on in the housing market, it's really never as bad as the media might make it out to be. The Charleston real estate market is correcting somewhat due to high inventory and less demand. Anecdotal evidence shows prices declining a little even though the statistics are not confirming price declines.
Let's give you an early look at February comparing 2007 and 2008:
07 Sales 981 Average $275,208 Median $204,500
08 Sales 677 Average $283,628 Median $196,500
Unit sales are down, the average price is higher, the median price is lower. How can that be? There are more sales at the lower end of the market and the median is the price that is the middle of all sales. As to average, the price edged up a little from last year to this. Actually, that surprises me a bit because with over 10,000 available homes for sale in Charleston, buyers can pick and choose and have a lot of negotiating power.
As anyone who has read my commentary on the NAR and Lawrence Yun knows, I'm not a big fan of spin. But Mr. Yun did make a very astute comment regarding the statistical methods of the Case-Shiller Index. He said, "the Case-Shiller price index — which has been gaining more media coverage as of late — covers only 20 markets. Most of these 20 markets coincidentally tend to be located in California, Florida, and other down markets. As a result, the index shows that most of the 20 markets are experiencing price declines."
The bottom line, don't ignore the media coverage but don't assume the worst either. The Charleston real estate market remains in much better condition than many of the markets that constitute the basis for the headlines. We don't remain clear of all the problems in the real estate industry today but the Charleston area does not share the severity of the problems of other real estate markets.
By the way, I'm noticing new home builders starting fewer spec homes right now and are adjusting to a more realistic view of how many homes they can actually sell.