Home Asking Prices, Listing Inventory Up in Q210: Altos Research

After increasing for the first time in nine months in May, asking prices for active home listings were virtually unchanged in the June reading of the Altos Research 10-city composite price index. In addition, inventory of existing homes for sale increased both in June and for Q210. The June median listing sales price for single-family existing homes was $477,937 in June, down $146, about 0.03%, below the May 2010 median of $478,083 for homes in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington DC. The 10-city composite median price bottomed out at $470,017 in January 2009. The composite gradually increased to $509,030 in July, before the nine-month-long run of declines. Since the end of March, prices in the 10-city composite at up 0.2%. Altos Research said 13 of 26 markets it tracks reported increases in asking sales prices for homes during the month of June. For Q210, asking prices were up in 14 markets. San Francisco led both categories with a 2% in June and an increase of 4.4% quarter-over-quarter. Following San Francisco in asking price increases was San Jose (1.5% in June, 2.5% in Q210), Austin (1%, 1.7%), Dallas (0.9%, 2.2%) and Cleveland (0.8%, 1.5%). The market with the biggest decrease was Phoenix, down 2.4% from June and 3.9% in Q210, followed by changes in Miami (-2.3%, -4%), Washington DC (-0.8%, 0.4%), Las Vegas (-0.6%, -0.9%) and Boston (-0.5%, 0.1%). Listing inventory totaled 304,831 properties in the 10-city composite, up 2.8% and 5.4% for the quarter. Chicago was the only market where listing inventory decreased in June, but the area was still up 0.7% for the quarter. While Detroit posted a 1.6% increase in listing inventory during June, it was the only market with a decrease in listing inventory for the quarter, down 2.1%. San Francisco lead all markets in inventory volume, up 7.6% in June and 13.5% for the quarter. Write to Austin Kilgore.