Average U.S. home price hits $191,000
Real estate in the United States is on the mend, but there are widely different opinions about by how much.
Depending on which real estate data analysts use, the housing market in America is either red hot or improvements have slowed considerably. Information from RealtyTrac supports the rapid improvement case. According to its latest report on prices, the median price of a home sold in the U.S. in July was $191,000. That figure was a sharp rise both month over month and year over year:
The median price of residential properties sold in July - including both distressed and non-distressed sales - was $191,000, up 3% from the previous month, and up 12% from a year ago to the highest level since September 2008, a 70month high.
Other recent research shows much more muted improvement. This is especially true with the carefully followed S&P/Case-Shiller report. Data to June 2014, released by S&P Dow Jones Indices for
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading
its measure of U.S. home prices, show a sustained slowdown in price increases. The National Index gained 6.2% in the 12 months ending June, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites gained 8.1%; all three indices saw their rates slow considerably from the previous month. Every city saw its year-over-year return worsen.
Obviously, both the methodology and time periods of the two studies are different. However, they do paint sharply different views.
RealtyTrac information shows the markedly different market to market:
States with the biggest annual increase in median sales prices were Michigan (+24%), Ohio (+20%), Virginia (+20%), Minnesota (+14%) and New York (+13%).
Metros with the biggest annual increase in median sales price included Detroit (+33%), Dayton, Ohio (+31%), Stockton, Calif., (+24%), Modesto, Calif., (+22%), Cleveland (+20%), and Miami (+19%). Some of the increase probably can be accounted for because the markets with the greatest
improvements
are improvements where those most badly damaged as the real estate bubble burst. This is certainly true of Michigan, Ohio, Detroit, Cleveland and the two California cities.