11/07/2014
Housing Update
Time for my quarterly update of the housing situation in the United States, using the existing home price barometer as published each month by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
As you are well aware, home prices rise in the spring as activity picks up after the doldrums of the fall and winter so I thought we’d look at the trends for the past two quarters…using the national median home price. A sustained recovery, with a further rise in prices, is only possible if the job market continues to show progress, however halting it currently is. It’s also going to be interesting to see how much further we decline off the spring highs in the next two quarters.
2014
April...$201,500
May....$212,000
June....$222,000
July.....$221,600
Aug....$218,400
Sept....$209,700 [preliminary]
2013
April...$191,800
May....$203,100
June....$214,000
July.....$212,400
Aug....$209,700
Sept....$198,500
2012
April…$173,700
May….$180,300
June….$188,800
July…..$187,800
Aug….$184,900
Sept....$178,300
2011
April…$161,100
May….$169,300
June….$184,300
July…..$171,200
Aug….$171,200
Sept….$165,300
2010
April…$172,300
May….$174,600
June….$182,900
July…..$182,100
Aug….$177,300
Sept….$171,400
2009
April…$166,500
May….$174,800
June….$181,800
July…..$181,300
Aug….$177,200
Sept….$175,900
Using the NAR’s data, the median average for a full year was as follows.
2004…$185,200
2005…$219,600
2006…$221,900*
2007…$219,000
2008…$198,100
2009…$172,500
2010…$172,900
2011…$166,100
2012....$176,800
2013....$197,100
*Existing home prices peaked in July 2006 at $230,200…according to NAR. You can play around with the numbers but generally you’re talking there was a ‘formal’ decline of 30%, peak to trough, nationally.
Source: realtor.org.
Wall Street History will return in two weeks.
Brian Trumbore
