Median Home Prices Continue To Fall

Washington, DC, Aug. 14, 2008--Real estate prices continued to post declines in the second quarter, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors.

Nationwide, the median single family, existing home price plunged 7.6 percent in the second quarter to $206,500 from $223,500.

A record numbers of foreclosures is helping to drive down prices, according to NAR. Foreclosures and short sales accounted for about one third of all existing homes sales.

"In many areas with large concentrations of foreclosure sales, homes are being purchased below replacement cost values," said NAR president Richard Gaylord. "Many buyers with long-term expectations are getting exceptional value in the current market."

Sun Belt metro areas led the decline.

In Sacramento, Calif. prices plunged 35.6% year-over-year to $$229,500. Cape Coral, Fla. recorded a loss of 33.1%, prices in Riverside, Calif. dropped 32.7%, and Los Angeles prices are down 29.6%. Las Vegas prices fell 23.6% and Phoenix was down 22.5% for the quarter.

"The biggest home-sales gains over the previous quarter have been in some of the markets with the steepest and fastest price drops," said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "Buyers in these areas are responding to deeply discounted home prices."

Existing-home sales increased 25.8 percent in California, 25.0 percent in Nevada, 20.5 percent in Arizona and 10.1 percent in Florida during the quarter.

The biggest regional home price declines have occurred in the West, where homes lost 17.4 percent of value to a median of $290,500.

Condo prices fell much less than single family homes, down just 3 percent year-over-year to $220,000 from $226,900.