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ONLY SEVEN PERCENT EXPECT PRICES TO
GO DOWN; EIGHT PERCENT
DON’T KNOW
A whopping 85% of homeowners
across the country expect that home prices will continue to appreciate
in the next six months, according to a new e-mail survey conducted
by HouseHunt, Inc., a consumer-oriented Internet firm that provides
free information to thousands of homeowners, home buyers and home
sellers.
Of those responding positively, 42% expect home prices to appreciate
0-5%; 33% expect an increase of 5-10%; and 25% expect a gain of
10% or more.
Seven percent of homeowners responding to the HouseHunt survey
said they expect home prices to go down during the same period.
Eight percent said they simply don’t know which way prices
will move.
During the first quarter of 2005, the median price of an existing
home in 136 metro areas in the U.S. rose to $188,800 – an
increase of 9.7% over the first quarter of 2004, according to
data compiled by the National Association of Realtors. Biggest
increase was in the West, where prices jumped 16.9% to $282,900.
Only other double digit price increase was in the Northeast, up
14% to 245,700. Next came the Midwest, with an increase of 7.8%
to $148,800 and the South, with a 6.6% increase to $166,600.
In April, the national median price of an existing home rose to
$203,800, up 15.1% from a year earlier. The Realtor trade association
also reported that existing home sales hit a record high of April,
reaching a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.28 million units.
Low mortgage interest rates and buyer demand that continues to
outstrip existing supplies in many areas are cited as primary
reasons for the torrid sales pace.
“After four straight record sales years, this market is
showing no signs of slowing down in the second half of 2005,”
said Michael Bearden, president and CEO of HouseHunt, Inc. “Successful
real estate agents understand that today’s home buyers and
sellers have high expectations because of the Internet and the
easy, immediate access it provides to housing market information
and demographics. Consumers have already done their homework and
want an agent who will respond quickly to their particular needs.”
HouseHunt’s two primary websites, HouseHunt.com and moveUp.com,
offer consumers free information on local communities, free on-line
access to listings, free on-line sales data on recent home sales
in their neighborhoods, free electronic property-matching (where
available), buying and selling information and access to some
of the nation’s top-producing and most-knowledgeable Realtors
regardless of brand affiliation and geographic limitations.
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