Prices of properties listed for-sale fell in 15 of 22 major markets during February, with prices falling 0.4 percent between January and February, according to a new report released earlier this week. Listing prices in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington, DC have fallen by 1.6 percent in the past three months, according to the Real-Time Housing Market Report, jointly published by Altos Research and Real IQ.
Asking prices fell at the fastest rate in San Diego, down 3.0% during February and 5.2% for the most recent three-month period. Prices also fell by more than two percent in the Detroit, Los Angeles and Las Vegas markets during February. Prices increased in Chicago, Charlotte, New York, Dallas, Phoenix and Houston during February and were flat in Seattle. “We are seeing some stability in asking prices as a result of seasonal reductions in inventory during the past winter months,” said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. “Unfortunately, we also saw an increase in listed property inventories this month which is atypical this early in the year. Only a sustained reduction in inventory will arrest the market’s fall nationally.” For-sale listed property inventories increased in 19 of 22 markets during February. The Altos 10-City Composite showed an increase of 2.5% for the month. Property inventories declined in only three markets: Chicago, Indianapolis and San Francisco. The report also found that time-on-market remained high. Miami and Detroit experienced the longest time-on-market spans with an average days-on-market of 146 and Minneapolis was close behind at 145 in February. Seventeen of 22 markets had an average days-on-market of over 100. Denver led all markets with the fastest rate of inventory turnover at an average of 77 days-on-market, followed by Dallas at 79 days. “Inventory growth combined with the recent rise in mortgage rates and reported job losses does not bode well for future price stability,” said Michael Simonsen, CEO and co-founder of Altos Research. “We expect housing price declines to resume in earnest during the next several months.” For more information, visit http://www.altosresearch.com and http://www.realiq.com.
