Southern metro areas dominated a list of the 10 markets with the biggest year-over-year increases in median list price in April, according to monthly data released this week by Realtor.com. The data considers 146 metro areas nationwide.
Two Florida markets saw the highest jumps: median list price in Fort Myers-Cape Coral rose 25.7 percent to $225,000, and the median in Miami rose 8.6 percent to $239,000.
Shreveport-Bossier City, La., followed with an 8.1 percent increase, to $173,000. Fort Myers-Cape Coral and Miami also saw the biggest year-over-year drops in inventory: -25.3 percent and -29.9 percent, respectively.
The two Florida markets were the only metros in the top 10 to move properties at a slower rate than the national median: 95 days. Median age of inventory for each was 116 and 129 days, respectively.
In order to obtain the median age of inventory for each market, Realtor.com subtracted a property’s listed date from whichever was earlier: its end listing date or the end of the time period, and took the median of all the resulting individual days on the website.
The three other Southern metros to make the list were Charleston, W.V.; Tyler, Texas; and the Virginia segment of the Washington, D.C. metro area. (Realtor.com separates data for metro areas that encompass multiple states.) The Washington, D.C., metro was the fastest-moving among the 10 markets with a median inventory age of 57 days.
In the U.S. overall, the median list price fell 4 percent year-over-year in April, to $191,900.
Two Midwestern metros (Columbia, Mo.; and Peoria-Pekin, Ill.) and two Western metros (Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo.; and Anchorage, Alaska) made the list. No market in the Northeast was among the top 10.
Eight of the 10 metros saw their inventory decline year-over-year last month, six of them by double-digit percentages. Only Anchorage and Tyler saw their total listings rise: 15.7 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively.
Nationally, total listings fell 8.3 percent.
| Median List Prices | Median Age of Inventory | |||
| $ | % yr.-over- yr. change |
# days on site | % yr.-over- yr. change |
|
| United States | $191,900 | -4% | 95 | 13.1% |
| Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. | $225,000 | 25.7% | 116 | 8.4% |
| Miami | $239,000 | 8.6% | 129 | 14.2% |
| Shreveport-Bossier City, La. | $173,000 | 8.1% | 73 | 28.1% |
| Washington, D.C.-Md.-Va.-W.Va. (Va.) | $369,900 | 6% | 57 | 14.0% |
| Columbia, Mo. | $168,000 | 5.1% | 60 | 0.0% |
| Peoria-Pekin, Ill. | $144,900 | 3.6% | 82 | 17.1% |
| Fort Collins-Loveland, Colo. | $249,900 | 3.5% | 82 | 10.8% |
| Anchorage, Alaska | $289,000 | 3.3% | 60 | 39.5% |
| Charleston, W.Va. | $159,900 | 2.9% | 82 | 32.3% |
| Tyler, Texas | $200,000 | 2.6% | 91 | 15.2% |
Source: Realtor.com
Among the 10 markets with the fastest-dropping median list prices, Western metro areas prevailed, accounting for six among the top 10; two are in the South and two are in Midwest. All 10 saw double-digit declines compared to April 2010. No Northeastern market made that top 10 list.
Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, Calif., saw the biggest price decline: down 26.2 percent to $498,250. The market was also one of two to see its inventory rise year-over-year, by 6 percent. The other was Reno, Nev., with a 9.5 percent increase.
Inventory declined by double digits in six of the remaining eight markets. Savannah, Ga., experienced the sharpest decline: -48.3 percent.
Savannah was also one of three markets with a median age of inventory above the national median. The market’s median inventory age was 198 days in April, though that represents an 11.2 percent decline from April 2010.
| Median List Prices | Median Age of Inventory | |||
| $ | % yr.-over-yr. change | # days on site | % yr.-over-yr. change | |
| United States | $191,900 | -4% | 95 | 13.1% |
| Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, Calif. | $498,250 | -26.2% | 75 | 2.7% |
| Detroit | $89,900 | -18.2% | 62 | 72.2% |
| Fresno, Calif. | $160,000 | -15.3% | 59 | 3.5% |
| Reno, Nev. | $170,000 | -14.6% | 96 | 7.9% |
| Atlanta | $159,900 | -13.6% | 81 | 3.8% |
| Los Angeles-Long Beach | $325,000 | -12.2% | 61 | -1.6% |
| Tucson, Ariz. | $175,000 | -11.8% | 88 | 12.8% |
| Savannah, Ga. | $210,000 | -11.7% | 198 | -11.2% |
| Chicago | $212,000 | -11.3% | 102 | 15.9% |
| Seattle-Bellevue-Everett | $309,900 | -11.2% | 70 | 16.7% |
Source: Realtor.com