The Fed; Housing Stabilizing

Posted on May 6, 2009 by hankbailey

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said today that the economy appeared to be stabilizing, but cautioned that a full recovery was months away.

“We continue to expect economic activity to bottom out, then to turn up later this year,” Bernanke noted to Congress.

Bernanke noted that improved home sales as evidence of improvement in the housing sector.

His comments were that sales have been “fairly stable” since the later half of 2008, also noting that this was primarily due to reduced sales prices which in his mind have made affordability better for all Americans.

Athens GA Housing Market Trends

Statistics (89 listings)
	Low	High	Average	Median	Total
List Price	$11,900	$639,000	$169,403	$139,900	$15,076,861
Selling Price	$8,000	$624,000	$162,585	$135,500	$14,307,445
List/Sold(%)	66.67%	109.08%	95.15%	96.31%	--
Days on Market	22	999	181	114	--

In the last 30 days, through today, in the Greater Athens area that comprises six different MSA's (metro statistical areas), we see an average and median sales prices selling at 95 percent to 96 percent of List Price.

Market Summary (by Sold Price)

Price Range	Count	Sum Price	Average Price	Median Price	Average DOM
$0 - $24,999	1	$9,200	$9,200	$9,200	36
$50,000 - $74,999	3	$196,600	$65,533	$66,200	40
$100,000 - $124,999	9	$1,029,052	$114,389	$119,000	154
$125,000 - $149,999	15	$2,004,400	$133,627	$132,000	138
$150,000 - $174,999	9	$1,454,400	$161,600	$157,900	143
$175,000 - $199,999	7	$1,264,045	$180,578	$180,000	147
$200,000 - $224,999	2	$419,000	$209,500	$209,500	73
$300,000 - $324,999	1	$320,000	$320,000	$320,000	497
$500,000 - $524,999	2	$1,048,000	$524,000	$524,000	273
$600,000 - $624,999	1	$624,000	$624,000	$624,000	47
Totals:	50	$8,369,145
Averages:			$167,383	$142,450	144

This is also interesting in that only six (6) out of 50 homes sold during "peak season," thus far were over $200,000. Conversely, roughly half the homes sold during this time period were between $125,000-$174,999.