Slow leak in the housing market

It is becoming apparent that the demand for residential properties, while still fairly healthy, is losing steam. RealEstateJournal.com reports that according to the National Association of Realtors, the U.S. median price for an existing single-family home appreciated 10.3% in the first quarter of 2006 from a year earlier, whereas prices had increased 13.6% from the fourth quarter of 2004 to the same period in 2005. In an article published last week by The New York Times, David Lereah, NAR's senior economist, is reported as saying, "It's going from a seller's market to a buyer's market." Asking prices are being cut in places like San Diego, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami and Washington, D.C., with a drop of 35.7% on houses in the Boston area. But while homeowner "anxiety" is permeating some markets, "taking a loss is still rare for sellers," The New York Times says.

Pricey pads in London

In this city, home to the royals' Kensington Palace, the most expensive homes (apartments with average values of more than 1.5 million pounds and houses with an average price of 3 million pounds) have appreciated $500 in price a day over the last 30 years, says Bloomberg.com. Here, the housing market is a better investment than the United Kingdom's stock indexes, says the Web site. The article contrasts rising home prices in London, which posted their highest annual rate increase in five years in April, to Manhattan's housing market, which saw its slowest rise in three years, Bloomberg.com says. Stoking demand for high-end residences is London's role as a major global financial center, the Web site says.

'White-collar' demographics spill into Durham

More and more new homes priced above $350,000 are being sold in Durham, N.C., a city once associated with lower housing prices and a 'blue-collar' past associated with cigarette manufacturing, says The Herald-Sun. In 2005, the area saw a 69% jump from 2004 in the number of new homes sold above that price range. (In 2004, 85 recently built houses were sold at prices above $350,000, whereas in 2005, 144 were sold.) The increase is tied to an influx of high-paying jobs at places like Duke University and Research Triangle Park, an elevated cost for land, and rising residential price tags in nearby Chapel Hill, N.C., the paper says.

Sellers lose the upper hand in Maryland

It's a buyer's market in Anne Arundel County,according to an article published by The Capital newspaper. Home to the state's capital, Annapolis, the county is in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area. In April, the median price for a home rose 8% from the year before, to $350,000. In contrast, the median home price rose 27% from April 2004 to April 2005, and 28% from April 2003 to April 2004. Last month also saw a 10% drop in the number of homes sold from the year before, the paper says. Not only are there fewer sales, but residential properties are taking longer to sell, the article says. Homes now spend about two months on the market, whereas during some of 2004's hottest selling times, they remained up for sale for 39 days, the paper says.

Price gains in California, but slowing sales

Although many locations in Southern California are continuing to experience double-digit home-price increases, there are fewer sales and homes are taking longer to sell, says the Los Angeles Times. In Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura and San Diego counties, the number of residences sold in the first quarter of this year dropped 8% from the same period in 2005. "Buyers don't have a panicked feeling," the paper quotes a local real-estate agent as saying. Of the six counties in Southern California, San Diego County posted the lowest price gain per square foot (7.2%) between the end of the first quarter of 2005 and the same period this year, the article says. Southern California's housing market could have flat prices for a period of five years or more, the paper quotes an economist from UCLA Anderson Forecast as saying.

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