Median home prices up 100% in Saginaw

chart_home_prices_metro.top.gif By Les Christie, staff writer


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The median price of single family homes rose in 91 of 152 major metro markets during the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2009.

Despite those gains, the nationwide median home price fell 0.7% to $166,100, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The price decline wasn't worse because a handful of places reported unusual robustness. Saginaw, Mich., for example, saw prices rise more than 100%. In the first three months of 2010, the median price jumped to $60,800 from just $30,300 last year.

All told, 29 places recorded double-digit gains, lead by: Akron, Ohio + 90.2%; Cleveland + 53.8%; and San Francisco + 28.9%.

The gains were ushered in by the tax credits for homebuyers, according to NAR's chief economist, Lawrence Yun. "The tax credit has been very effective in drawing down excess inventory, with about one million additional sales resulting directly from the stimulus," he explained.

Another factor is the change in what types of properties are being sold. A year ago, 70% of sales in these depressed Midwestern cities were "distressed properties." That means foreclosures sold at big discounts. Now, the majority of transactions are traditional sales with ordinary homeowners selling to homebuyers.

In Saginaw, half of the properties sold a year ago were distressed and went for less than $30,000, according to Nate Wilson, a local real estate agent with Wilson Realty.

Those homes now only account for roughly a third of sales volume, and the higher percentage of conventional sales is lifting the median price.

Wilson added that Saginaw is undergoing a transition from its dependency on auto-parts manufacturing to an economy relying on more modern industries, such as renewable energy.

One young major employer is Hemlock Semiconductor, a joint venture of Dow Corning, Shin-Etsu Handotai and Mitsubishi Material. It has a plant just outside Saginaw city proper and produces semiconductor devices used in solar energy cells. It is in the midst of a $1 billion expansion.

Gary Homan, a vice president for the company, said Hemlcok is probably doing more hiring than any other business in the area, having taken on hundreds of new workers for the past past three years.

Big picture

Nationally, much of the market improvement stems from a change in consumer psychology, according to NAR President Vicki Cox Golder.

"Buyer confidence is back, and home buyers have long-term views," she said. "The typical buyer plans to stay in their home for 10 years, so we've put the flipping mentality behind us and most people see housing for what it is -- shelter that provides social benefits and is also a good long-term investment."

Extremely reasonable mortgage terms have also helped shore up home sales: Mortgage interest rates averaged around 5% for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan during the quarter.

Still, some lending issues have yet to be worked through. NAR said that a third of its members reported that clients had difficulty obtaining mortgages, and 11% said they lost sales due to appraisals coming in for less than the prices negotiated between sellers and buyers. In those cases, lenders refused to issue the mortgages.

The figures were also likely skewed by the government interventions, especially the tax credits, according to Patrick Newport, a real estate analyst for IHS Global Insight.

"It's difficult to make sense of the sales numbers because the two tax credits distorted the data by shifting sales across time," he said. "But with the job market improving, we see the housing market improving sustainably starting in the second half of this year."

Regionally, the Northeast registered the biggest gain at 9% while the West fell the most, down 8.3%. The Midwest (down 0.8%) and the South (up 1.1%) were nearly flat.

Condo prices, at a national median of $170,700, fell 0.1% from the first quarter of 2009. To top of page

NAR 1st quarter 2010 home prices
Untitled Document
Metro Area State Median home price 1Q % change from
1Q 2009
Akron OH $95,300 90.2%
Albany-Schenectady-Troy NY $183,800 -0.4%
Albuquerque NM $174,200 -4.6%
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton PA-NJ $228,200 4.7%
Amarillo TX $116,800 -4.3%
Anaheim-Santa Ana CA $486,700 11.7%
Appleton WI $123,000 11.5%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta GA $110,100 -4.8%
Atlantic City NJ $213,300 -2.6%
Austin-Round Rock TX $182,500 0.2%
Baltimore-Towson MD $234,900 -4.4%
Barnstable Town MA $325,600 17.7%
Baton Rouge LA $166,200 4.3%
Beaumont-Port Arthur TX $127,000 -1.6%
Binghamton NY $102,800 -6.8%
Birmingham-Hoover AL $135,100 3.6%
Bismarck ND $157,900 3.0%
Bloomington-Normal IL $151,900 -1.2%
Boise City-Nampa ID $135,300 -13.9%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy MA-NH** $321,800 10.7%
Boulder CO $335,800 2.3%
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk CT $348,100 2.1%
Buffalo-Niagara Falls NY $106,600 7.5%
Canton-Massillon OH N/A N/A
Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL $86,400 -1.0%
Cedar Rapids IA $136,100 6.9%
Champaign-Urbana IL $127,000 -10.3%
Charleston WV $194,600 3.4%
Charleston-North Charleston SC $116,500 -2.3%
Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord NC-SC $171,400 -0.1%
Chattanooga TN-GA $112,900 -4.2%
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet IL $176,400 -5.0%
Cincinnati-Middletown OH-KY-IN $121,900 14.5%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor OH $106,400 53.8%
Colordo Springs CO $184,800 2.7%
Columbia MO $139,500 -8.6%
Columbia SC $136,600 1.7%
Columbus OH $125,800 6.3%
Corpus Christi TX $129,500 2.5%
Cumberland MD-WV $98,300 -14.4%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX $141,900 0.6%
Danville IL N/A N/A
Davenport-Moline-Rock Island IA-IL $102,500 2.2%
Dayton OH $97,900 22.8%
Decatur IL $73,300 -4.9%
Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach FL $115,800 -10.0%
Denver-Aurora CO $224,800 16.5%
Des Moines IA $131,000 -4.6%
Detroit-Warren-Livonia MI N/A N/A
Dover DE $190,000 -5.5%
Durham NC $171,500 Unch
El Paso TX $90,800 17.8%
Elmira NY $128,600 -3.2%
Erie PA $95,700 11.4%
Eugene-Springfield OR $194,800 -7.6%
Fargo ND-MN $140,700 4.9%
Farmington NM $190,900 -0.2%
Florence SC $98,500 Unch
Ft. Wayne IN $93,200 15.6%
Gainesville FL $154,700 -3.5%
Gary-Hammond IN $108,800 18.3%
Glens Falls NY $138,600 -11.5%
Grand Rapids MI $90,700 26.0%
Green Bay WI $131,600 -4.9%
Greensboro-High Point NC $121,400 -6.4%
Greenville SC $140,600 -1.0%
Gulfport-Biloxi MS $128,800 -3.0%
Hagerstown-Martinsburg MD-WV $145,400 -13.0%
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT $225,900 1.6%
Honolulu HI $621,200 3.8%
Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land TX $150,100 8.4%
Indianapolis IN $108,500 13.9%
Jackson MS $121,800 -0.7%
Jacksonville FL $144,900 -6.0%
Kalamazoo-Portage MI N/A N/A
Kankakee-Bradley IL $118,200 1.4%
Kansas City MO-KS $130,700 3.2%
Kennewick-Richland-Pasco WA $176,500 10.8%
Kingston NY $217,100 11.7%
Knoxville TN $135,100 -2.5%
Lansing-E.Lansing MI $77,100 17.5%
Las Vegas-Paradise NV $137,000 -11.8%
Lexington-Fayette KY $135,400 1.2%
Lincoln NE $132,800 0.3%
Little Rock-N. Little Rock AR $129,600 3.3%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA $331,400 9.2%
Louisville KY-IN $127,700 5.5%
Madison WI $212,700 2.0%
Manchester-Nashua NH $219,300 3.8%
Memphis TN-MS-AR $113,900 18.5%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach FL $193,600 -6.0%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis WI $203,800 6.8%
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington MN-WI $162,000 -7.0%
Mobile AL $116,400 -9.0%
Montgomery AL $124,200 1.4%
NY: Edison NJ N/A N/A
NY: Nassau-Suffolk NY $227,900 5.3%
NY: Newark-Union NJ-PA $154,600 2.5%
Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro TN $380,400 1.8%
New Haven-Milford CT $436,900 2.1%
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner LA $325,800 1.5%
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island NY-NJ-PA $376,900 0.1%
New York-Wayne-White Plains NY-NJ $356,500 1.7%
Norwich-New London CT $205,200 2.8%
Ocala FL $92,900 -14.5%
Oklahoma City OK $140,700 0.2%
Omaha NE-IA $132,900 3.0%
Orlando FL $131,600 -15.0%
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville FL $101,700 -11.0%
Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent FL $140,700 2.6%
Peoria IL $105,500 -3.9%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD $209,800 1.8%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale AZ $140,900 9.1%
Pittsburgh PA $116,000 12.2%
Pittsfield MA $188,500 4.7%
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford ME $200,000 4.1%
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton OR-WA $237,400 -4.5%
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River RI-MA $211,900 4.7%
Raleigh-Cary NC $222,900 Unch
Reading PA $147,600 1.7%
Reno-Sparks NV $181,400 -13.5%
Richmond VA N/A N/A
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA $180,500 4.6%
Rochester NY $112,200 6.3%
Rockford IL $100,100 0.1%
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville CA $179,400 6.0%
Saginaw-Saginaw Township North MI $60,800 100.7%
Saint Louis MO-IL $116,100 15.1%
Salem OR $193,300 -3.4%
Salt Lake City UT $203,800 -11.4%
San Antonio TX $142,200 -2.1%
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos CA $379,000 14.7%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA $518,200 28.9%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara CA $560,000 24.4%
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice FL $167,600 8.0%
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue WA $302,600 -4.0%
Shreveport-Bossier City LA $146,400 7.6%
Sioux Falls SD $144,400 5.7%
South Bend-Mishawaka IN $69,500 12.5%
Spartanburg SC $117,100 7.3%
Spokane WA $170,100 -5.5%
Springfield IL $115,500 3.7%
Springfield MA $182,300 7.2%
Springfield MO $115,200 -0.9%
Syracuse NY $116,600 2.6%
Tallahassee FL $154,400 -1.0%
Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater FL $133,900 -1.0%
Toledo OH $74,200 13.3%
Topeka KS $98,500 -7.5%
Trenton-Ewing NJ $230,100 -8.9%
Tucson AZ $166,800 -5.4%
Tulsa OK $124,800 -1.7%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News VA-NC $195,000 -3.0%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV $292,600 4.7%
Waterloo/Cedar Falls IA $109,500 12.5%
Wichita KS $114,900 6.3%
Worcester MA $209,800 10.7%
Yakima WA $154,600 7.7%
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman OH-PA N/A N/A
U.S.   $166,100 -0.7%
NE   $256,300 9.0%
MW   $130,600 -0.8%
SO   $148,200 1.1%
WE   $210,200 -8.3%
Note1: California prices provided by the California Association of REALTORS®
*All areas are metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget as of 2004. They include the named central city and surrounding areas. N/A Not Available p Preliminary r Revised
Most current data available
© 2008 National Association of REALTORS®
Metro Area State Median Price
1Q 2010
% Change
(1-yr)
Albuquerque NM $144,200 -4.1%
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta GA N/A N/A
Austin-Round Rock TX $146,000 1.7%
Baltimore-Towson MD $202,500 -5.1%
Bismarck ND $130,000 1.8%
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy MA-NH $271,400 16.5%
Boulder CO $212,500 3.4%
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk CT $237,800 N/A
Cape Coral-Fort Myers FL $118,700 -1.8%
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet IL $175,600 -10.3%
Cincinnati-Middletown OH-KY-IN $111,200 -4.3%
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor OH N/A N/A
Colorado Springs CO $128,700 -2.7%
Columbus OH $114,100 -2.7%
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington TX $130,300 2.5%
Greensboro-High Point NC N/A N/A
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford CT $167,300 2.7%
Honolulu HI $305,200 1.5%
Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land TX $122,200 -3.3%
Indianapolis IN $108,300 9.5%
Jacksonville FL $79,700 -32.2%
Knoxville TN $133,500 -4.4%
Las Vegas-Paradise NV $65,000 -13.6%
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana CA $231,700 5.3%
Louisville KY-IN $124,000 9.2%
Madison WI $140,400 -8.0%
Manchester-Nashua NH $171,800 20.8%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach FL $95,300 -11.3%
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis WI $160,400 10.2%
New Haven-Milford CT $156,200 -4.6%
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner LA $190,000 13.7%
Norwich-New London CT $176,100 5.3%
New York-Wayne-White Plains NY-NJ $281,600 -0.2%
NY: Newark-Union NJ-PA $273,900 0.8%
NY:Edison NJ $241,300 -0.7%
NY:Nassau-Suffolk NY $228,200 -0.6%
Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville FL $81,500 -10.0%
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington PA-NJ-DE-MD $187,100 -3.0%
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale AZ $88,300 -21.9%
Portland-South Portland-Biddeford ME $178,300 -9.4%
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton OR-WA $172,200 -10.1%
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River RI-MA $182,400 4.1%
Reno-Sparks NV $70,500 -37.2%
Richmond VA N/A N/A
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario CA N/A N/A
Rochester NY $109,300 5.0%
Sacramento--Arden-Arcade--Roseville CA $88,900 -5.2%
Salt Lake City UT $152,400 -4.6%
San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos CA $215,600 21.1%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont CA $391,100 13.1%
Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice FL $185,000 6.0%
Springfield MA $162,200 6.9%
Syracuse NY $143,300 24.7%
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater FL $94,600 -11.0%
Toledo OH $113,300 -12.0%
Trenton-Ewing NJ $214,400 -6.9%
Tucson AZ $89,200 -27.7%
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News VA-NC $178,000 -5.8%
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria DC-VA-MD-WV $234,500 6.3%
Wichita KS $87,900 -22.8%
Worcester MA $161,800 15.1%
U.S.   $170,700 -0.1%
NE   $232,600 5.7%
MW   $153,400 -1.2%
SO   $116,300 -10.5%
WE   $155,300 -7.3%
*All areas are metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) as defined by the US Office of Management and Budget as of 2004.
** Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH - Data from New Hampshire not available
They include the named central city and surrounding areas. N/A Not Available p Preliminary r Revised
© 2008 National Association of REALTORS®
State Total Sales % Change
(1-yr)
ALABAMA $72,400 1.1%
ALASKA $23,200 7.4%
ARIZONA $152,400 10.4%
ARKANSAS $58,400 5.8%
CALIFORNIA $495,600 -5.6%
COLORADO $94,800 5.3%
CONNECTICUT $49,600 24.0%
DELAWARE $11,200 Unch
District of Columbia $8,400 23.5%
FLORIDA $415,200 35.0%
GEORGIA $175,600 3.8%
HAWAII $20,000 51.5%
IDAHO $35,600 122.5%
ILLINOIS $196,800 27.1%
INDIANA $99,600 11.7%
IOWA $56,800 9.2%
KANSAS $51,600 2.4%
KENTUCKY $71,200 11.3%
LOUISIANA $50,400 Unch
MAINE $23,600 28.3%
MARYLAND $73,600 26.0%
MASSACHUSETTS $110,000 21.7%
MICHIGAN $181,200 14.1%
MINNESOTA $105,200 5.2%
MISSISSIPPI $42,800 10.3%
MISSOURI $100,800 4.6%
MONTANA $21,200 17.8%
NEBRASKA $31,200 13.0%
NEVADA $106,400 17.7%
NEW HAMPSHIRE $19,200 11.6%
NEW JERSEY $120,600 14.5%
NEW MEXICO $32,400 19.1%
NEW YORK $257,200 26.8%
NORTH CAROLINA $136,800 15.9%
NORTH DAKOTA $12,800 23.1%
OHIO $238,400 5.5%
OKLAHOMA $77,200 -1.5%
OREGON $58,400 32.7%
PENNSYLVANIA $163,200 13.6%
RHODE ISLAND $14,000 6.1%
SOUTH CAROLINA $68,800 8.2%
SOUTH DAKOTA $14,000 -2.8%
TENNESSEE $109,600 13.2%
TEXAS $429,600 5.8%
UTAH $31,600 19.7%
VERMONT $11,200 33.3%
VIRGINIA $108,800 -1.8%
WASHINGTON $89,200 32.0%
WEST VIRGINIA $26,400 15.8%
WISCONSIN $75,200 16.8%
WYOMING $10,800 22.7%
United States $5,137,000 11.4%
Northeast $850,000 19.7%
Midwest $1,127,000 10.8%
South $1,893,000 10.7%
West $1,267,000 8.3%
N/A Not Available r Revised p Preliminary
© 2008 National Association of REALTORS®
Note: State will not add up to national/regional totals due to independent samples.

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