AVERAGE CHICAGO METRO HOME PRICE UP 16.4% IN FIRST QUARTER, 2008
TWO-THIRDS OF U.S. METRO MARKETS SHOW PRICE GAINS IN FIRST QUARTER!
The Chicago Metro Real Estate Market is big and diverse. Taken as a whole, however, the average home price here increased over 16%, year to year, between the First Quarter, 2007, and the First Quarter, 2008. The current average price of the home in the Chicago area was $341,500 - up from the year-ago average of $293,400.
Chicago is now the ninth-most expensive market based on Average Sales Price of Homes, behind, in order - San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles, New York, Seattle, Washington DC, Portland OR, and Sacramento CA. Boston is slightly less expensive, as a whole, with an average housing price market-wide of $336,100.
On a national scale, according to the Quarterly Survey of Home Prices done by the Federal Housing Finance Board, the Average Home Price across the U.S. increased 0.8% year-over-year - to $320,500 at the end of March, 2008, from $318,000 a year earlier. Of 32 Metro Markets surveyed, 21 posted average price increases within the past year, while only 11 posted declines.
There is a difference of opinion as to which price tier in the market is experiencing the greatest price changes over the past year. Zillow.com, with it's "Zestimates" estimated valuation formula, projects that the biggest price declines over the past year, as a percentage, have occurred in the highest 20% price tier.
According to LaVaughn Henry, Director of Economic Analysis for PMI Mortgage Insurance, however, price declines have been strongest for less-expensive homes. He quotes S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Price Estimates from their latest Tiered Pricing Study, covering 17 of the biggest U.S. Metro Markets. The reason for the sharp drop off in lower-end homes in 12 of the 17 markets studied, he believes, might be attributable to the downfall of sub-prime financing options. In recent years, many lower-end property buyers used sub-prime loans to finance their purchases.
Here's a sampling of average price changes for several Midwestern Metro Markets studied -
Cincinnati - a 21.4% average price DROP, to $221,000
Cleveland - an 11.9% average price DROP, to $205,100
Minneapolis - a 10.6% average price DROP, to $269,200
Milwaukee - a 19.1% average price GAIN, to $190,400
Selected average price changes for other Metro Markets -
Read Lew Sichelman's article in last Sunday's Chicago Tribune for more detail.
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