The following is an Inman News roundup of real estate news:
California’s Central Valley a hotbed for price declines
Two-thirds of all states showed year-over-year real estate price declines in March, according to a report released today by First American CoreLogic, a part of First American Corp.
The LoanPerformance House Price Index, which covers about 7,523 ZIP codes and 670 counties, found that the largest declines among statistical areas are concentrated in California’s Central Valley, and California is home to nine of 10 statistical areas that suffered the steepest price declines in the past year. Los Angeles topped the list with a 21.2 percent decline in the past year.
Price per square foot drops in 23 of 25 metro areas
The price per square foot of residential housing dropped in 23 of 25 U.S. metro areas during March compared to the same month last year, according to a monthly report. Radar Logic Inc., a real estate data and analytics company, reported that the price per square foot feel 30.6 percent in the Sacramento, Calif., metro area, with double-digit percentage declines in 13 of the 25 tracked market areas.
The price per square foot was up 2.8 percent year-over-year in Milwaukee and was nearly flat with a 0.1 percent gain in Charlotte. The largest monthly change was in Chicago, which saw a 9.8 percent rise in the price per square foot from February to March, and the largest monthly decline was in Miami, down 4.1 percent.
Residential spending dives for 26th straight month
Spending on residential construction projects was down 21 percent in April compared to the same month last year, the U.S. Census Bureau reported today. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of private residential construction spending fell for the 26th consecutive month in April to $435.8 billion, down 37.4 percent from a peak of $696 billion in February 2006.
Total construction spending dipped about 3.9 percent year-over-year in April, to a rate of $1.12 trillion. This rate is a projection of a monthly construction total over a 12-month period, adjusted to account for typical seasonal fluctuations in construction activity.
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