According to CNNMoney.com, the median price of U.S. single-family homes dropped 11.9% in 2009 to $173,200. Earlier in the year, the housing market appeared to be rebounding as prices gained in the first 9 months of 2009 until they experienced a 2.9% drop during the 4th quarter. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for NAR, was encouraged. He feels that this showed a broad stabilization in the housing market since Buyers were taking on long-term fixed rate mortgages as opposed to adjustable-rate loans.
Another sign of improvements is the increase in homes sold during the 4th quarter. Over 6 million properties were transferred in the 4th quarter, which was a 27.2% increase from the 4th quarter of 2008. Yun, and many others including myself, feel that the surge in home sales was a result of the tax credits offered by the Federal government and low mortgage rates.
Locally, the median sale price of a single family home (non-condo) was $212,600. This represented a 0% change when compared to the same statistic in 2008, again showing signs of a stabilizing market. The median condo price did fall 14.7% to $179,300. However, condos have been tougher to sell with the increasing restrictions from many lenders for those types of properties.
Looking forward, I envision that the local and national markets will continue to stabilize. Only time will tell...