CHICAGO AREA MEDIAN HOME PRICES DOWN 6.6% - 1ST Quarter, 2008 vs. 2007!
CHICAGO METRO AREA FARES BETTER THAN MANY - MEDIAN SINGLE-FAMILY HOME PRICE $249,600!
First Quarter, 2008 data released yesterday by the National Association of Realtors indicate the median single-family home price dropped in 100 out of 149 Metro Markets surveyed, versus price medians for the First Quarter, 2007. Of the remaining markets, 48 showed slight to moderate median price INCREASES, while one market - Honolulu HI - showed virtually flat median pricing year-to-year.
According to the Associated Press, median prices declined 67% of the top 149 markets in the survey. This was the largest percentage of markets showing declines in any quarter since NAR started to survey back in 1979. (The survey showed 34% of markets showed median price declines, year-over-year, for the Fourth Quarter, 2007).
The biggest median price loser was the Sacramento CA Metro Area, with median home price last quarter of $258,500 - down 29% in the past year. Other markets with the greatest median price fall-offs include Lansing and Grand Rapids MI, Sarasota and Miami FL, and San Diego CA.
Areas showing the biggest market-wide median-price gains included Yakima WA, Binghampton and Elmira NY, Peoria IL, and Spartanburg SC. Binghampton, in Upstate New York, enjoyed a Median Price Gain for single-family homes of 11.8% - to $109,700.
For more information, and a link to the full NAR Chart, visit yesterday's Real Estate Developments Blog in The Wall Street Journal.
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
