If you were waiting for home values to hit bottom, you’ve waited too long. Depending on where you live, you’ll likely find fewer homes for sale and slightly higher prices when shopping for a home.
Home values increased in most parts of the country over the 12 months that ended in June, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Half of the houses sold in the second quarter of this year cost $181,500 or more. That’s 7.3 percent more than the median price of $169,100 in the second quarter of 2011.
Home values rose in 110 of the 147 metro areas included in the Realtors’ survey. Prices were unchanged in three areas, and prices declined in 34.
The biggest drop was in the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk area in Connecticut, where the median home price declined 12.9 percent compared to the second of quarter of 2011.
| Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. | -12.9 percent |
| Edison, N.J. | -9.5 percent |
| Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. | -9.4 percent |
| Elmira, N.Y. | -8.2 percent |
| Atlantic City, N.J. | -7.7 percent |
| Pittsfield, Mass. | -7.6 percent |
| Charleston, W.Va | -5.9 percent |
| Green Bay, Wis. | -5.8 percent |
| Manchester-Nashua, N.H. | -5.8 percent |
| Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, Conn. | -4.4 percent |
The biggest winners were Detroit as well as Phoenix, where home prices jumped nearly 30 percent compared to last year.
| Detroit-Warren-Livonia, Mich. | 29.2 percent |
| Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Ariz. | 29 percent |
| Boise City-Nampa, Idaho | 21.7 percent |
| Florence, S.C. | 20.5 percent |
| Akron, Ohio | 16.5 percent |
| Buffalo-Niagara Falls, N.Y. | 16.5 percent |
| Bismarck, N.D. | 14.8 percent |
| Cumberland, Md./W.Va. | 14.7 percent |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. | 14.4 percent |
| Peoria, Ill. | 12.3 percent |
Despite the price gains, the volume of home sales slipped 0.7 percent in the second quarter, compared to the first quarter. The association claims that the drop is partially due to the decline in the number of homes for sale.
The notion that there are not enough homes on the market for sale may sound absurd to homeowners who are still struggling to sell their homes, but it’s a valid theory. There were 2.39 million homes for sale in the second quarter, down from 3.16 million during the second quarter of 2011.
“What we need now is additional inventory in the lower price ranges, so we hope banks will be releasing more foreclosure inventory into the market,” says Moe Veissi, president of NAR.
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