EMERYVILLE, CA -- ZipRealty, Inc., (www.ziprealty.com), released the results of its Third Quarter 2008 Housing Market Report, which includes an analysis of actual, not estimated, levels of home inventory and price reductions in nearly 30 U.S. markets as well as a look at "hot and cold" neighborhoods in six major U.S. markets.
-- A decrease in inventory, nationally: At the end of Q3 2008, in the 28 major metropolitan areas monitored by ZipRealty, the total number of single family homes, condominiums and townhouses for sale decreased 9.6 percent over the same time last year, and 4.4 percent over Q2.
-- Salt Lake City and Seattle saw the largest year-over-year increases in housing inventory (13.2 percent and 8.8 percent respectively)
-- Orange County and Las Vegas saw the largest year-over-year decreases in inventory (28.9 percent and 23.7 percent respectively)
-- Price reductions continued to increase, but at a slower pace than previous quarters;
-- In the markets monitored by ZipRealty, the number of homes with at least one price reduction continued to rise in the third quarter, but the growth rate has flattened.
-- In the markets which ZipRealty monitors, 45.2 percent of homes on the market were price reductions, compared with 43.2 percent in the second quarter 2008 and 41.4 percent in the first quarter 2008.
-- Markets which had the highest percentage of price reductions included Tucson (49.1 percent), Orange County (49.0 percent) and Las Vegas, Boston and Orlando (48.9 percent).
-- Miami saw the largest year-over-year increase in the percentage of homes that were price reductions with 48.4 percent in 2008, up from 38.1 percent in 2007, a 27.1 percent change from the previous year.
-- "Hot and Cold" neighborhoods in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Out of six markets reviewed (Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, Boston, Washington, D.C. and Seattle), several zip codes have homes selling on average for over list price:
-- Near South Side (60605) in Chicago
-- Berkeley (94703 and 94702), Inner Mission (94110) and Albany (94706) in San Francisco
-- Long Beach (90805) in the Los Angeles area.
Within the same markets, the following zip codes have the highest proportion of homes selling below asking price:
-- Harvard (60617), New City (60609), and South Chicago (60617) in Chicago
-- Belfair (98528) in Seattle
"Unlike other reports, ZipRealty's Quarterly Housing Report looks at actual levels of inventory and price reductions in nearly 30 U.S. markets, as well as hot and cold neighborhoods in six of the largest markets," explains ZipRealty vice president Leslie Tyler. "The results of the report show a wide variance in inventory and price reductions by market. Some markets have had minimal increases in inventory and price reductions, while others have had double-digit increases in both, perhaps signifying that some markets are leveling out while others are just beginning to crash. What's interesting is that we're finding hot and cold neighborhoods in all cities regardless of what it looks like on a macro level."
ZipRealty also surveyed its buyers and sellers regarding their expectations of their local housing markets. Perceptions of the market varied by region and by the respondent's position in the market (i.e. buyer or seller).
-- Buyers think home prices will continue to decline, sellers are more optimistic
-- 61 percent of buyers and 40 percent of sellers anticipate declines in home prices over the next six months
-- Sellers have become increasingly pessimistic since Q1 2008
-- 30 percent of sellers think the decline will last a year or less, compared to 42 percent in Q1
-- 16 percent of sellers think the decline will last 3 or more years, compared to 9 percent in Q1
-- Buyers' perceptions of the market have remained relatively flat since Q1 2008
-- 43 percent of buyers think the decline will last a year or less, compared to 42 percent in Q1
-- 14 percent of buyers think the decline will last 3 or more years, compared to 12 percent in Q1
-- Buyers and sellers in Southern California, parts of Florida, Boston and Long Island expect further declines in home prices while buyers and sellers in Texas, Baltimore, Richmond and Charlotte were more optimistic
-- More than 80 percent of the respondents in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley and 78 percent of the respondents in San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire expect further declines in home prices
-- 37 percent of the respondents in Houston and 41 percent of the respondents in Dallas expect further declines in home prices
"The results of our Market Perception Survey revealed that people actively engaged in buying or selling a home remained relatively pessimistic about the housing market," said Tyler. "Whether they're living inland or along the coast or whether buying or selling a home, Americans generally think that the market isn't going to repair itself soon or quickly."
The full report can be found at www.ziprealty.com/pdf/2008_3Q_HousingReport.pdf
| 
