Housing Markets 2008: The Best and the Worst
By: Katie Curnutte, Zillow PR Manager | December 15, 2008
Zillow teamed up with Business Week again recently to come up with a list of the cities with the best–and worst–performing housing markets in each state. Here are some highlights:
In California, the cities with the best–and worst–performing housing markets are both in the central part of the state.
Soledad didn’t fare too well in 2008, coming out as the California city with the worst-performing market. Home values there fell nearly 40 percent year-over-year during the first three quarters of the year. Hopefully, that market will bottom-out soon so all of Soledad’s residents can get a little relief.
That said, there are some great deals for Soledad real estate these days. According to BusinessWeek, the city was founded as a Spanish mission in 1791, and is now mainly an agricultural town in one of the best wine regions in California. And you can buy a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house for less than $300,000. Here’s one for sale in Soledad for $290,000:
255 Head St, Soledad CA 93960 — For Sale: $290,000
About 100 miles away from Soledad is Palo Alto, the city with the best-performing housing market of 2008. Home values there rose 4.3% year-over-year during the first three quarters of 2008, and the Zillow Home Value Index there is $1.34 million to Soledad’s $227,739.
According to BusinessWeek, Palo Alto has “broad cultural diversity and high household incomes,” which probably helps its housing market remain healthy in these tough times.
Palo Alto homes for sale are considerably pricier than those in Soledad. For a five-bedroom, three-bathroom house like the one in Soledad for under $300,000, you’d be taking out a significantly bigger mortgage.
This home on Almaden Court will run you a cool $2.4 million:
26856 Almaden Ct, Los Altos, CA 94022 — For Sale $2.4 million
Let’s switch coasts and look at Connecticut.
The bad news first: Waterbury fared the worst in the state, with 11.4% year-over-year depreciation in home values over the first three quarters of 2008.
The small city in central Connecticut has had its share of problems with a fairly long history of corruption in its local government, but things have been getting better over most of the past decade. Waterbury is very well-located — fairly close to Hartford, and New York City is a two-hour drive away. It’s also in a beautiful location in central Connecticut.
The city’s median home value is $146,276. Waterbury homes for sale have quite a bit of variety. Here’s a beautiful century-old home for under $150,000:
162 Faber Ave, Waterbury, CT 06704 — For Sale $150,000.
Down the road about 40 miles is Westport, a town on the Long Island Sound and the city with Connecticut’s best-performing market of 2008. Home values increased 3.3% year-over-year in the first three quarters of 2008.
While there are some Westport homes for sale that are priced under $1 million, there aren’t many.
Here’s a classic New England Cape for under the $1 million price tag:
8 Vani Ct, Westport, CT 06880 — For Sale $575,000
Here are some of the other highlights from the article:
- Best: Grand Junction, home values up 0.3%
- Worst: Aurora, home values down 7.4%
Take a look at BusinessWeek’s slideshow for a nice visual of the full list. And, in case you missed it, check out our earlier collaboration with BusinessWeek titled, “32 Small Towns with Big Bucks.”
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- Categories: Real Estate, Real Estate Analytics
Comments
4 Comments so far
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concernedsick on December 15, 2008 4:21 pm
Everybody is talking about economical doom and gloom to the extent of the nation going into a recession. I am extememly concerned of the home prices in San mateo county, california. What are the factors that affect the continuing price decline when other areas of the nation ( i.e., Jersey and Texas) are seeing a price increase ? Have there been a recent increase of forclosures in the county ? What other factors affect the prices ? Is it prudent to bailout/sellout now before we lose all our equity ? When may we expect the prices to turnaround ?
Katie Curnutte on December 15, 2008 5:25 pm
Hi Concernedsick,
I don’t blame you for being concerned, but don’t worry too much! I’m no financial advisory, but I checked out some of Zillow’s stats on San Mateo County, so you could be well-informed about what’s going on there.
I looked up some of our third quarter stats on San Mateo County, and it looks like home values there fell 13.4 percent year-over-year. That’s not great, but it’s a far cry from the places that are seeing 30 percent declines.
It’s impossible to predict what will happen with home values. The economy is a big question mark at the moment, and unemployment and foreclosures will make a big difference. But the San Francisco area (which you’re part of) did see year-over-year value declines decelerate a bit in the third quarter. If this happens for a couple more quarters, it could be an indication that we’re reaching bottom.
As far as selling goes, here’s a bit of good news: 5-year annualized change is still positive in the San Francisco metropolitan area. It’s up 1.9 percent; good news for people who have had their homes for more than five years.
I hope I helped you relax just a little! It’s a hard time for lots of people right now.
Katie C from Zillow
John Smalls on December 24, 2008 10:46 pm
Here in Samui Thailand, we are experiencing a slow down in sales. Agents are reporting very few customers, and although this is now impacting sales only those selling to realize cash are hurting.
Since the vast majority of sales are paid for with cash outright, the market is still not seeing dramatic falls in property prices. There are some properties now discounted and these offer real opportunities for those with cash.
Samui represents a safe property investment, for the medium to long term. Property price increase generally run at 8 - 10%pa.
John Smalls from Samui Real Estate Locators Co., Ltd
Cedar Rapids Real Estate on December 27, 2008 1:23 pm
Everyones comments and even the subject of the blog tell us that real estate is and always has been a local issue relative to price rise, decline, foreclosure rates, etc. Cedar Rapids real estate rarely goes up or down dramatically, and it has always had slow, but steady growth.