Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Update on Humboldt County Residential Sales

I just shared statistics for sold residential real estate in Humboldt County, California, and it seems that prices, both average and median, are plummeting. Is this really the case, or are there some anomalies or structural changes affecting purchase price?



A while back I explained the different layers of homes available in the Humboldt County market, and how each is responding to the different economic conditions in the marketplace. (see http://humboldtproperties.blogspot.com/2010/02/starter-homes-fixerswhats-in-name.html) You might recall that I divided the segment into 5 key layers.


          2009 Humboldt County Housing Market Segments
• Fixers –                 up to $225,000           24% of the market
• Starters -     $225,000 - $275,000           31.3% of the market
• Mid-range - $275,000 - $400,000           29.7% of the market
• Executive -   $400,000 - $500,000             8.2% of the market
• Luxury -       $500,000 and up                    6.8 % of the market











As I explored the details of our Humboldt County market for January and February 2010, I discovered the following details:

Jan-Feb, 2010 Humboldt County Housing Market Segments
• Fixers –                    up to $225,000           41% of the market
• Starters -        $225,000 - $275,000            15.2% of the market
• Mid-range -    $275,000 - $400,000            32.4% of the market
• Executive -      $400,000 - $500,000              4.8% of the market
• Luxury -          $500,000 and up                     6.7 % of the market











The huge movement from the “Starter” segment of the market into the “Fixer” segment, as well as the significant drop in “Executive” homes sold, are the best explanations for the significant change in average and median home sale prices in the first 2 months of 2010. So, rather than seeing this new data as the beginnings of a new slide in real estate prices, I’m thinking it’s an anomaly in the market, one that will be corrected over the coming months. It sure does emphasize the opportunity for killer deals in the bottom segments of our market, though!

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