Home Values Fall For The First Time Since 2012

U.S. home values fell from March to April, the first month-over-month decline since February 2012, according to the April Zillow® Real Estate Market Report.

Despite Hurricane Harvey’s damage, Houston-area home sales increased 8.9% in January while high-end demand continued to slow.

The typical U.S. home is worth $226,800, down 0.1% from last month. The decline – led primarily by large West Coast markets – comes after 85 straight months of gains that brought home values to record highs. U.S. home values have experienced declines only twice over the past few decades: during the recession of the early 1990s and the Great Recession and housing crisis in the late 2000s.

On an annual basis, home values grew 6.1%. But the pace of year-over-year appreciation has slowed in each of the past four months, falling from 8.1% annual growth as recently as December.

Home values fell in 32 of the 35 largest housing markets over April and remained flat in two others. Riverside, Calif., was the only large market that saw its home values appreciate during the month. This downturn has been a longer-term trend in other large California markets – home values have fallen in at least each of the previous three months in San Jose, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Home values have likely peaked in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Houston, Miami, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, St. Louis, Tampa, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Portland and San Jose.

Rent prices continued to accelerate, growing for the sixth consecutive month. The median U.S. rent rose 2.6% on an annual basis to $1,477. Rents grew the fastest in Las Vegas (up 7.8%), Phoenix (up 6.7%) and Orlando (up 6.4%).

Inventory fell 1.7% year-over-year in the U.S. Washington, D.C., has seen the most significant drop, with 31.7% fewer homes for sale than this time a year ago.

Despite the drop nationally, for-sale inventory has grown significantly in expensive West Coast markets San Jose, Seattleand San Francisco – this is due to cooling demand rather than a flood of new listings.

Mortgage rates listed on Zillow rose slightly in April. Rates grew as high as 4.17% before ending the month at 4.06%, up four basis points from April 1. Zillow's real-time mortgage rates are based on thousands of custom mortgage quotes submitted daily to anonymous borrowers on the Zillow Mortgages site and reflect the most recent changes in the market.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crucial Coronavirus Cleaning Tips: How To Keep Your Home Germ-Free During the Pandemic

Image
How long the virus survives—and where it thrives The novel coronavirus can survive on surfaces anywhere from hours to days. The latest information is that it can last 24 hours on cardboard, 48 to 72 hours on plastic, and 48 to 72 hours on stainless steel, says  Dr. Reuben Elovitz , internist and CEO at  Private Health Dallas , who cited a recent study from the  New England Journal of Medicine . The duration also depends on a few other factors, like temperature and whether a surface is prone to holding moisture. “Wooden handles, for example, are more likely to be damp than metal under normal conditions—and damp conditions can enable many infectious agents to thrive,” explains molecular biologist  Dr. Tracey Evans . “ Furthermore, a warm room is more favorable for many pathogens than a cold one.” Regardless of what kinds of temperatures and surfaces you have in your home, there are things you can do to keep these dangerous pathogens at bay. Ditch germs at ...
Read more

7 Ways to Create a Neighborly Front Yard

Image
1. Shade the Sidewalk Consider placing a tree where it will shade the sidewalk to help create a pleasant environment and encourage walking and visiting among neighbors. Trees provide rain and sun protection, and temperature differentials of 5 to 15 degrees are felt when walking on tree-canopied streets. In urban areas trees help mitigate the  heat-island effect  and provide a connection to nature. Most cities require permits for adding trees to a parkway (or hell strip), but permits are not usually required for planting on private property. Sean Papich Landscape Architecture 2. Set the Fence Back Placing a low fence or wall back a few feet from the edge of the sidewalk allows room for planting, and plants provide visual interest for pedestrians. In addition to cheerful  daisies  like these, velvety plants such as  lamb’s ears  ( Stachys byzantina ;   USDA zones 4 to 9;  find your zone ) would work well. June Scott Design ...
Read more

What’s New in Outdoor Lighting Design

Image
Linear Lighting There’s a trend toward the more extensive integration of lighting with modern hardscape elements. Sleek, minimalist linear step lighting illuminates a path while keeping light fixtures hidden from view. It also enables you to more easily highlight an architectural feature, such as stairs or a freestanding wall.  ZEN Associates, Inc. Laurie Ghielmetti Floating Structures Another trend is placing lights beneath landscape structures, creating the illusion that they are floating-- light is hidden to visually float steps, benches, bridges and other outdoor landscape elements. dSPACE Studio Ltd, AIA BEGA North America Sleek, Modern Fixtures A big trend is to use path lights that look more architectural, rather than the traditional flower or mushroom shapes. Pistils Landscape Design + Build Nightfall Landscape Lighting Low-Voltage Lighting While low-voltage lighting is not necessarily a new concept,...
Read more