ALTOS RESEARCH: HOME PRICE DECLINES CONTINUED IN FEBRUARY

The double dip in housing continued in February according to Altos Research, a real-time provider of home price data.  Altos says national prices fell 2%, but are showing some signs of early seasonal strength.  Scott Sambucci of Altos Research elaborates:

“Spring 2011 is imminent and with it the much-anticipated Spring Real Estate Market. While the headline pricing metric 90-day rolling average still shows monthly declines, week-over-week data are beginning to show signs of improvement, indicating a good start to what is, typically, the strongest sales period of the calendar year.

In February 2011, the Altos 10-City Price Composite decreased by 2.01% to $433,573. Once again, prices were down in each of the 27 markets tracked by Altos, with the most marked changes seen in San Francisco, Washington, DC, and Detroit. Of note are sharp increases in listing inventory in several major markets, most notably in San Jose (8.81%), Washington, DC (7.99%), and San Francisco (7.96%), which is likely an indicator of sellers hoping to take advantage of heightened buyer activity this season.

March 2011 Highlights

• The Altos 10-City Composite is now at $433,573, off 3.44% over the last 90 days.

• All 27 of the major markets tracked by Altos showed price decreases during the most recent quarter, most significantly in San Francisco and Washington, DC metro markets which showed declines of 9.31% and 8.13%, respectively.

• Housing inventory is up by 3.75% nationwide, though increases should be expected, as sellers hope to capitalize on seasonal upturns in real estate activity.

The Altos Research 20-City Composite

This month’s featured chart returns to the median price of the Altos 20-City Composite. Weekly price samples turned above the 90-day rolling average. This trend indicates stronger price resiliency than 2010 though not as strong as the tax credit and stimulus-driven bounce of early 2009.”

Source: Altos Research