How Much is Your Home Worth on Today's Market?

[EdBailey]

Did you know that the median selling price of single family homes sold through the Yosemite Gateway Multiple Listing Service in the first quarter of this year was 7.5 percent above the first quarter of last year? Find out how much your home is worth by going to www.EdBaileyRealtor.com/sellers.html in fill in the blanks. I will help you in one of two ways. I will send you information on comparable sales based on the information you give me. Or, if you would like a more definitive estimate I will visit and examine your home and give you a Brokers Opinion of Value. Either way, it is free and without obligation or commitment on your part. You are also invited to read my on-line Newsletter, "Yosemite Gateway Properties and Lifestyles" at www.EdBaileyRealtor.com/news.html.

[EdBailey]

You can view the current Yosemite Gateway Real Estate Buyer Guide on line at: http://ygaor.com/guides/YG-v13n02.pdf. I can help you purchase any property advertised in it. Call me at 313-1081

[LucyD]

In a normal market the median price indeed provide a good measure for where home prices are moving: 50% of the transactions are above the median price and 50% are below it.

However, now is not a normal market:

Most sellers are holding, buyers are disappearing and mortgages are harder to come by.

As a result there are fewer and fewer sales al the low half of the market. Only at the high end for people who can come up with large amounts of cash or have no problem to qualify for large mortgages there are deal that take place. In such situation the median price is pushed higher while actually the price of each house is lower than it was a year ago. A good yardstick to that is the price per Sq.Ft. See for example Amador county where the price per Sq. Ft. dropped over 30% while the median price rose (only because deals where made only on the high end of the market).

So in an an environment of fewer and fewer home sales it is best to try and price a home according to a larger area and comp then to measure based on a small area "median price" change hat no longer represent the situation. Buyers now can no longer get a 100% loan (unless they pay very high interest). All interest rates for mortgages are up about 0.4% to %0.55 – this means higher mortgages payments in the order of 8%-10% so home prices have to come down in that amount. Off course it would take sellers time to realize that and by that time prices may continue to decline while not too many sales take place.

[EdBailey]

In a normal market the median price indeed provide a good measure for where home prices are moving: 50% of the transactions are above the median price and 50% are below it.

However, now is not a normal market:

Most sellers are holding, buyers are disappearing and mortgages are harder to come by.

As a result there are fewer and fewer sales al the low half of the market. Only at the high end for people who can come up with large amounts of cash or have no problem to qualify for large mortgages there are deal that take place. In such situation the median price is pushed higher while actually the price of each house is lower than it was a year ago. A good yardstick to that is the price per Sq.Ft. See for example Amador county where the price per Sq. Ft. dropped over 30% while the median price rose (only because deals
where made only on the high end of the market).

So in an an environment of fewer and fewer home sales it is best to try and price a home according to a larger area and comp then to measure based on a small area "median price" change hat no longer represent the situation. Buyers now can no longer get a 100% loan (unless they pay very high interest). All interest rates for mortgages are up about 0.4% to %0.55 – this means higher mortgages payments in the order of 8%-10% so home prices have to come down in that amount. Off course it would take sellers time to realize that and by that time prices may continue to decline while not too many sales take place.

Hi Lucy,

Thank you for your thoughtful insights. Although median selling price does not tell the whole story , I would much rather have the figures up than down, as they are in much of the state and around the country, in the same "not normal" market. I, for one, am encouraged.