Buy A Home- Homes are selling at more Affordable Prices

Daily Real Estate News  |  April 24, 2008

Affordability Improves for New Buyers

Falling prices are good news for home buyers, making it increasingly likely that they will be able to find a property at a price that is significantly lower than it would have been two years ago and probably less than the house would have brought just a few months ago.

Real-estate data company Zillow.com estimates that the median value for all homes in the 12 months ending March 31 fell 25 percent in the Las Vegas metro area, 19 percent in Miami and Orlando, and 16 percent in Phoenix. They declined lesser amounts in most other areas.

In the metro areas of Raleigh and Charlotte, N.C., Dallas and Houston, prices are rising - but very modestly.

There's a "return to normalcy" in the relationship between home prices and incomes, says Richard DeKaser, chief economist at National City Corp. In an analysis of 330 metro areas in the fourth quarter of 2007, National City and Global Insight, an economic research firm, found that home prices were overvalued in relation to household income and other factors in 21 metro areas, down from a peak of 58 metro areas in the second quarter of 2006.

Source: The Wall Street Journal, James R. Hagerty (04/24/08)

Susan Buhr

PDS Real Estate

Visit PDS Real Estate website to conduct your own home search.