House List Prices Down 1% in December

Altos Research’s listing price index declined 1% in December and 1.4% during Q409, but the 10-city composite price index was up 5.2% for the year, the company said, adding it projects asking prices to continue to decline during the winter 2010 months. The average listing price decreased to $494,426 from $499,267 from November to December. The index took a bigger monthly drop in December than it did in November, a result of the season decline in sales activity, Altos Research said. Miami was the only market of the 26 that Altos Research measures that experienced a gain in listing prices. San Diego and Salt Lake City experienced the greatest listing price declines, down 4.3% and 3.5% respectively. Inventories also declined in 24 of 26 markets, the largest drops in Boston and the California markets of Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Jose. New York (2.1%), and Phoenix (0.7%) experienced the only increases for the markets covered. The 10-city composite experienced a 5.1% decrease in listing inventory. All markets except San Francisco (99 days) had a median days on market of 100 or more days in December. Miami had the slowest turnover with a median of 247 days, more than eight months. The days on market for the 10-city composite was up 8% to 166 days. The Altos Research study includes existing single-family homes and does not measure condos, town homes or new construction. Each market measured uses results from Census Bureau Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA).Now on to our real estate investing educational section...In the Know...Startling Starts & Other Frightening FactsInformation is power so it should come as no surprise that savvy short sale investors make a point of staying in the know. Today the ShortSale blog is reporting on startling starts and other frightening facts that should motivate even the strongest procrastinator to begin shopping for short sale deals in earnest.