I think home prices have stabilized.
There are lots of articles and news on the web and in old-fashion print letting all know property values are on the rise – in some markets, of course. It does look promising overall. Nothing to get too excited about but honestly, I’m not hearing the peaceful sound of crickets in our local market. Instead, lots and lots of bustling activity!
A recent report from our MLS shows Monterey County’s median price for single family dwellings up by 20% (November 2011 – November 2012). I have had issues with the term “median” as a measure of central tendency in real estate values even back in my statistics class in college. It still doesn’t make sense to me and I’m perplexed as to why the powers-to-be choose to use a median price to determine market trends.
Since I’m the author of this commentary, I’m using the mean or rather average of homes sold in a given area in a given time period to determine market trends on the Monterey Peninsula. I’m really glad that I’m not being graded by a teacher so I can do whatever I please!
Hard to believe, but it has been 7 years since the bubble burst. The year 2005 can usually be considered the height of the market and it was downhill since. My research shows that 2008 was a boom year. Prices were half of the average sold price in most Peninsula cities and the total units sold for that year exceeded 2006. Wow! Unfortunately for those that bought in 2008, it wasn’t the bottom. I’m thinking maybe 2011. Check out my report for the average solds for some of the Peninsula cities.
Interestingly enough, Carmel and Pebble Beach seem to be bucking market trends. There was a decline in average solds but nowhere near the other cities. So my focus will be Pacific Grove, Monterey, Seaside and maybe Marina as I think it’s a tad out of the way. Forget Salinas. By the way, I used the cities’ zip codes as the area search parameter – which probably is not a good idea for Monterey as it would include parts of Salinas Monterey Highway. But hey, I’m not sending a rocket into space here. I’m just trying to get an idea where our Peninsula property values are going for 2013.
That said, we’ll need to wait until after the new year for all of the agents to report their year-end sales. Once in, I’ll have 2012 averages posted. So far, it appears prices have …. Well then, you’ll need to tune in again on the 15th of January. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!