Thursday, October 29, 2009

Denver fares better than nation in home resale prices

Denver Business Journal - by Paula Moore

Denver-area home resale prices dropped in August year over year, but were down far less than the national average, according to a First American CoreLogic Inc. report released Thursday.

According to First American’s LoanPerformance Home Price Index (HPI), metro Denver’s average home-resale price — including sales of distressed homes such as foreclosures and short sales — decreased 1.44 percent in August from the same month of 2008.

Nationwide, resale prices dropped 10.1 percent in August from August ’08.

Resales are sales of homes that have been sold at least once before.

First American’s HPI data doesn’t include actual selling prices. The types of housing the index covers include single-family homes, condominiums and townhomes.

By comparison, July home prices in the Denver area dropped 2.64 percent from those of July 2008, and June prices were down 3.21 percent year over year.

But excluding distressed sales, August home prices were down less than 1 percent — .58 percent — from the prior-year August.

July prices, not including distressed sales, decreased 1.26 percent and June’s prices dropped 1.68 percent year over year.

First American CoreLogic predicts Denver-area home prices will decrease 2.63 percent from August through August 2010.

In Colorado, the HPI index shows average resale home prices, including distressed sales, dropped 3.44 percent in August from the same month of 2008. Prices not including distressed sales were down only 2.83 percent.

Looking at other Western states, Nevada had a 24.4 percent drop in resale prices, including distressed sales, while Arizona had a 19.5 percent decrease.

First American CoreLogic expects overall Colorado resale prices to be down 1.87 from August to August 2010, and down 3.07 percent excluding distressed sales.

Based in Santa Ana, Calif., First American CoreLogic provides real estate information, including mortgage-related data and market trends.

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