Local and national home sales are horrid

By Times Wires
Published February 15, 2008

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Sales of existing homes fell in 45 states during the October-December quarter, and the home price drop was the steepest recorded since 1979, the National Association of Realtors said.

In the Tampa Bay area, single-family home sales declined 31 percent, to 5,105 from 7,388 in the fourth quarter of 2006. The median sales price was off 12 percent, from $225,400 to $197,400.

South Dakota was the lone state to show a sales increase. Existing home sales there rose 8.9 percent from the same quarter a year ago.

Median home prices fell in more than half of the 150 metropolitan areas surveyed. Overall, the national median price decline was 6 percent, from $219,300 to $206,200. Out of the 77 metros that showed declines, 16 dropped by double-digit percentage. Worst off were Lansing, Mich.; Sacramento, Calif.; Jackson, Miss.; and Riverside, Calif.; all of which posted price declines between 17 and 19 percent.

Lawrence Yun, the trade group's chief economist, blamed price declines on mortgage problems that mushroomed last fall, making loans more expensive for borrowers seeking to take out "jumbo" mortgages larger than $417,000.

Nationwide, existing homes sold at an annual rate of 4.96-million units in the fourth quarter, down 21 percent from the sales pace of the fourth quarter in 2006, the Realtors group said.

The states suffering the biggest drop in sales were Nevada, down 44 percent and Wyoming, down 42 percent. Florida's sales decline was 31 percent.

Times staff writer James Thorner contributed to this report.