Seriously, I live in a growth market, and I even have to listen to our local news simply regurgitate what the national news said earlier that day. Our local news fails to give local statistics, and simply says things like, "The average home sale price in the US has declined by X%." They forget to mention the fact that our market (Greenville, SC) has steadily averaged price appreciation of 4.26% per year for the past 5 years. In our market, even 2007 saw an average sale price increase of 4.1% over 2006. Not to mention the fact that the average time to sell a home continues to go down in our market.
It seems like I keep hearing about Stockton, CA too. The news continually talks about falling prices there, with a "15.27% drop average sale price from 2006 to 2007", yet they somehow forget to mention that Stockton, CA has appreciated by 50.15% over 5 years. How about Fresno, CA for that matter? I'm sure the news there can't stop talking about the gloom and doom of an 8.65% drop in average sale price in 1 year, but I'd be willing to bet that the news anchor forgets to mention the 82.92% appreciation over the past 5 year period.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that the national market has seen better days, but I thought everyone was claiming to be fair and balanced. If you look in the Detroit market, they didn't even see the double-digit appreciation that some markets got to enjoy, and their prices still saw a drop of 6.13% from 2006 to 2007.
I guess the bottom line is that Don Imus can get fired (even if just temporarily) for saying something irresponsible without thinking, but where is the justice for Jim Cramer? I know it's hardly the same thing, but I think he said one zip code was doing well during his infamous rant on the Today Show, but apparently he didn't see the OFHEO's House Price Index:
- 175 out of the 291 (60%) metro areas indexed, saw an increase in average sale price 4Q06 to 4Q07.
- 192 out of the 291 (66%) metro areas indexed, saw an increase in average sale price from 2006 to 2007.
- 290 out of the 291 (99.7%) metro areas indexed, saw an increase in average sale price over the past 5 years! That leaves only ONE metro area that saw a decline for the five years leading up to 12/31/07 (see Detroit paragraph above)
Here's a thought, maybe the local news in the 66% of metro areas that appreciated in 2007, should take responsibility, and actually report on their local market. If they wouldn't blab about the national market, and fail to report on their local market, then maybe the quarterly figures in some markets would paint a better picture. After all, I seriously think that even in my market, some buyers and sellers hesitate based on what they hear on the news. Actually, I know it.
Cameron
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Cameron Keegan - Realtor, ASR, ABR
Prudential C. Dan Joyner Realtors
Greenville SC Homes for Sale
~ Whether Buying or Selling: Get on the Fast Track to your new home! ~ GreenvilleFastTrack.com
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