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Home Prices Cooling in Second Quarter 2006
Washington DC, Aug. 15, 2006 The NAR 2nd-quarter single family home price report showed 37 areas with double-digit annual increases and 26 areas experiencing minor price declines. Many areas that showed declines are also experiencing a weak local labor market. The national average existing single family home price was $227,500 in the 2nd quarter, up 3.7 % from a year earlier when the average price was $219,400. The average is a typical market price where 1/2 of the homes sold for more and 50% sold for less. Metro area condominium and cooperative values, covering changes in 57 markets, show the national average existing condominium price was $225,800 in the 2nd quarter, down 0.3 % from a year earlier. 15 metros showed double-digit annual gains in the average condominium price, and 14 areas had declines. The largest single family home price increase was in the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the 2nd quarter price of $172,300 was 27.3 % higher than a year ago. Next was Ocala, Florida, at $169,500, up 25.3 % from the 2nd quarter of 2005. The Virginia Beach-Norfolk area of Virginia and North Carolina, with a 2nd quarter average price of $237,300, increased 23.6 % in the last year. Average 2nd-quarter metro area single family values ranged from $65,200 in Danville, Illinois, to nearly 12 times that amount in the San Francisco-Oakland area where the average price was $751,900. The 2nd most expensive area was the San Jose-Santa Clara area of California, at $748,200, followed by the Orange County, California area at $726,200. Other low-cost markets include the Youngstown, Warren, and Boardman areas of Ohio and Pennsylvania, the 2nd least-costly metro at $78,700, and Decatur, Illinois, with an average 2nd-quarter resale home value of $85,300. In the condominium sector, the strongest gains were in the Phoenix-Scottsdale area, where the 2nd quarter price of $189,600 rose 25.3 % from a year ago. In the Trenton, New Jersey, the average condominium price of $261,600 rose 23.3 % from the 2nd quarter of 2005, while Honolulu, at $305,000, increased 18.7 %. Metro area average existing condominium values in the 2nd quarter ranged from $109,900 in Greensboro-High Point, North Carolina to $647,200 in San Francisco-Oakland. The 2nd most expensive reported condominium market was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $410,500, followed by the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area of California at $373,800. Other low cost condominium markets include Bismarck, North Dakota, at $110,000, and Rochester, New York, at $110,500. Regionally, the greatest increase in was in the Northeast where the average resale single family home price in the 2nd quarter was $299,200, up 6.3 % from 12 months ago. The strongest increase in the region was in Elmira, New York, at $87,300, up 12.4 % from the 2nd quarter of 2005, followed by Glens Falls, N.Y., with a average price of $158,700, up 11.8 %, and Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, at $235,100, up 11.4 %. The West, the average existing single family home price rose 3.6 % to $350,800 during the 2nd quarter. The strongest increase in the West was in the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton area of Oregon and Washington, at $242,700, up 19.1 % from 2nd quarter of 2005, followed by Spokane, Washington at $179,000, up 18.6 %, and Eugene-Springfield, Oregon, at $227,600, up 18.3 % from a year ago. The South, the average existing single family home price was $188,200 in the 2nd quarter, up 4.1 % from a year earlier. After the Baton Rouge, Ocala and Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News areas, the strongest increase in the South was in Gainesville, Florida, at $214,100, up 19.7 % from the 2nd quarter of 2005. Next were the Florida areas of Jacksonville and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, at $198,000 and $231,600 respectively, both up 18.8 % from a year ago. The Midwest, the 2nd quarter average existing single family home price of $167,400 slipped 2% from a year earlier. The strongest metro increase in the Midwest was in Bismarck, North Dakota, where the average price of $138,600 was 14 % higher than the 2nd quarter of 2005. Next was the St. Louis area, at $153,000, up 7.8 %, and Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, at $108,200, up 7.4 % in the last year.
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