Case Shiller Shows Home Prices in DC Increased 7.3%

• August 31st 2010

by Mark Wellborn

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The latest report from Case-Shiller is out today and it shows that home prices in DC increased just over 7 percent between June 2009 and June 2010. However, this news is a little deceiving as the index is reporting on home sales data from April, May and June when the federal tax credit was in effect.

A week ago, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported that existing home sales for July were down 27.2 percent when compared to June, dropping to their lowest level in a decade. The news in the DC area was not quite as bad as sales volume dropped just over 18 percent, and the average sales price actually increased by almost 14 percent to $550,687.

DC may remain immune from the 5 to 10 percent price drops that analysts are predicting for homes around the country by the end of the year, but what is likely to happen is that the pendulum will move back in favor of the buyer as sellers are forced to reduce their listing price. Redfin’s Glenn Kelman in today’s Wall Street Journal:

“Until recently, the sellers were looking at data from April, when there seemed to be a recovery in the works. The buyers were looking at unemployment data and general lack of consumer confidence,” says Glenn Kelman, chief executive of Redfin Corp., a Seattle-based real-estate brokerage. “Now you’re going to see the logjam break. The low sales figures are going to force sellers to make the first move.”

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/case_shiller_shows_home_prices_in_dc_increased_7.3/2435.