Since the mainstream media is preaching doom and gloom for the nation’s housing market, I thought I’d go looking for it – you know, to see how bad it really is out there. I went looking for bursting bubbles and other bad stuff.
I found something – else.
I learned a little more about what most consumers already understand – real estate is local and performance varies from market to market. I found a headline (or two).
A great headline nationally: Average sales prices increase in nearly 80% of U.S. states
My local headline is: Delaware among 39 U.S. states posting increased average sales price
How can that be? Keep reading, please.
Last week, I heard something about Utah leading the nation in housing price appreciation, but I couldn’t remember where I saw it or heard it (if I knew, I’d credit them). But, I was positive some magical PDF loaded with facts and figures from a government office would give me the skinny.
You know what, I found the one I was looking for – and a couple others (check back in the next couple weeks to see them too).
I like to read (and I encourage literacy, by the way). This week’s tidbit comes from pages 25 and 26 of the 4th quarter Seasonally-Adjusted House Price Index for the USA, published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight – part of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The government oversight group’s mission is to use taxpayer dough to employ lots of really smart people to collect reams of data “to promote housing and a strong national housing finance system by ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).”
The full 88-page Q4SAHPI4USA-OFHEO report (sorry, I couldn’t resist the governmental acronym thing), complete with graphs and maps and tables and everything from national to market level data, is available on the OFHEA Web site.
What does it say? Well, among other things, in the last year, the overall U.S. house prices increased by 0.8%.
How can that be, you ask, because the media is preaching the end of times for real estate? Does that mean the average sales price actually rose over the course of the last year? Right, while real estate sales velocity has dropped (everyone will admit that), the average sales price of what is selling went up. Don’t believe me, ask the OFHEO.
Those stats cover the whole country – from sea to shining sea – and certainly aren’t reflective of average sales prices in every market, right? Right. In fact, this government oversight and research group found that Utah did, in fact, lead the nation in appreciation over the last year, with a 9.27% increase in the average sales price last year. Who knew that a state with 2.233 million folks that celebrates “Industry” (the state motto), the dutch oven (the state cooking pot), Dubhe (the state star) and the Spanish sweet onion (oddly, the state vegetable), would be the national leader in sales price appreciation.
I don’t live in Utah – and neither does most of the country. But … what Utah and 38 other states have in common, though, is each and every one saw home price appreciation in the last year. I work at the beach (in the First State: Delaware) and we do most of our real estate transactions in the resort community of Sea Colony. According to the report, Delaware’s average sales price increased 1.95% last year. It’s not Utah, but no other state is – at least this year. Delaware has miles and miles of beach and the fourth lowest tax burden in the United States working for it (that’s another report, check back next week).
Never heard of Sea Colony?
Located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and known as “The Premier Family Beach & Tennis Resort Community,” Sea Colony features 2,202 homes ranging from oceanfront condos to secluded single family homes, plus a newly-widened half mile of private beach, 12 pools (two indoor), world class tennis, fitness centers, activities for all ages, community shuttle and year-round security. With 34 courts (including four indoor and 14 Har-Tru) and 25 teaching professionals, Sea Colony is ranked among Tennis Magazine’s “50 Best U.S. Tennis Resorts” – including #3 for families, #3 for match-ups and #1 for bargains – and #19 in the world by Tennis Resorts Online, published by former Tennis Magazine Editor Roger Cox.
ResortQuest Real Estate has been providing comprehensive real estate sales and vacation rental services to Sea Colony and the surrounding Quiet Resorts of Southern Coastal Delaware for 36 years … and counting. Visit us on the Web for more information about Sea Colony real estate sales or Sea Colony vacation rentals.
Delaware among 39 U.S. states posting increased average sales price
Since the mainstream media is preaching doom and gloom for the nation’s housing market, I thought I’d go looking for it – you know, to see how bad it really is out there. I went looking for bursting bubbles and other bad stuff.
I found something – else.
I learned a little more about what most consumers already understand – real estate is local and performance varies from market to market. I found a headline (or two).
A great headline nationally: Average sales prices increase in nearly 80% of U.S. states
My local headline is: Delaware among 39 U.S. states posting increased average sales price
How can that be? Keep reading, please.
Last week, I heard something about Utah leading the nation in housing price appreciation, but I couldn’t remember where I saw it or heard it (if I knew, I’d credit them). But, I was positive some magical PDF loaded with facts and figures from a government office would give me the skinny.
You know what, I found the one I was looking for – and a couple others (check back in the next couple weeks to see them too).
I like to read (and I encourage literacy, by the way). This week’s tidbit comes from pages 25 and 26 of the 4th quarter Seasonally-Adjusted House Price Index for the USA, published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight – part of the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The government oversight group’s mission is to use taxpayer dough to employ lots of really smart people to collect reams of data “to promote housing and a strong national housing finance system by ensuring the safety and soundness of Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation).”
The full 88-page Q4SAHPI4USA-OFHEO report (sorry, I couldn’t resist the governmental acronym thing), complete with graphs and maps and tables and everything from national to market level data, is available on the OFHEA Web site.
What does it say? Well, among other things, in the last year, the overall U.S. house prices increased by 0.8%.
How can that be, you ask, because the media is preaching the end of times for real estate? Does that mean the average sales price actually rose over the course of the last year? Right, while real estate sales velocity has dropped (everyone will admit that), the average sales price of what is selling went up. Don’t believe me, ask the OFHEO.
Those stats cover the whole country – from sea to shining sea – and certainly aren’t reflective of average sales prices in every market, right? Right. In fact, this government oversight and research group found that Utah did, in fact, lead the nation in appreciation over the last year, with a 9.27% increase in the average sales price last year. Who knew that a state with 2.233 million folks that celebrates “Industry” (the state motto), the dutch oven (the state cooking pot), Dubhe (the state star) and the Spanish sweet onion (oddly, the state vegetable), would be the national leader in sales price appreciation.
I don’t live in Utah – and neither does most of the country. But … what Utah and 38 other states have in common, though, is each and every one saw home price appreciation in the last year. I work at the beach (in the First State: Delaware) and we do most of our real estate transactions in the resort community of Sea Colony. According to the report, Delaware’s average sales price increased 1.95% last year. It’s not Utah, but no other state is – at least this year. Delaware has miles and miles of beach and the fourth lowest tax burden in the United States working for it (that’s another report, check back next week).
Never heard of Sea Colony?
Located just south of Bethany Beach, Delaware, and known as “The Premier Family Beach & Tennis Resort Community,” Sea Colony features 2,202 homes ranging from oceanfront condos to secluded single family homes, plus a newly-widened half mile of private beach, 12 pools (two indoor), world class tennis, fitness centers, activities for all ages, community shuttle and year-round security. With 34 courts (including four indoor and 14 Har-Tru) and 25 teaching professionals, Sea Colony is ranked among Tennis Magazine’s “50 Best U.S. Tennis Resorts” – including #3 for families, #3 for match-ups and #1 for bargains – and #19 in the world by Tennis Resorts Online, published by former Tennis Magazine Editor Roger Cox.
ResortQuest Real Estate has been providing comprehensive real estate sales and vacation rental services to Sea Colony and the surrounding Quiet Resorts of Southern Coastal Delaware for 36 years … and counting. Visit us on the Web for more information about Sea Colony real estate sales or Sea Colony vacation rentals.