The questions about the condition of the market are always on the mind of homeowners. Now, with all the credit woes and many predictions of weakness in the economy and possible recession, answers to these questions are more important than ever.  Like with many statistical approaches the answer may not be obvious. To better understand the situation, we can look at it in two different ways. The first is to look at the home prices in general; the second is to look at the prices of the same properties that sold both in 2004/2005 and in the last 12 months. 

Average Sold Price.                                                                                        
Average sale price is UP  9 % year-to date 2007.vs. 2006.

Sold Price for homes on the market in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007
The average price is DOWN 5% for properties that were sold in 2004/2005 and then came back on the market and were sold in 2006 (in the over $1,000,000 price range).

One conclusion from this examination is that the increase in the Average Sales Price may not be an indication of an improving market.  The more telling and a truer reflection of the market is the decrease in the sale price for the same property in 2004/2005 vs. 2006/2007. For the home sellers who are in the market now or are planning to sell soon this decrease needs to be used to guide their expectations.