Median home resale price drops
The median price for resale homes and condominiums nationwide slipped to $183,000 last month, down 11% from October 2007, the National Assn. of Realtors reported Monday.
The real estate brokers and agents group blamed foreclosures and distressed properties for what it calls a “significant downward distortion” of prices.
Nationwide sales also declined 3.3% in October from the previous month and were the same as in October 2007.
“Many home buyers appear to have withdrawn from the market due to the stock market collapse and deteriorating economic conditions,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the Realtors association.
October’s sales were an about-face from September, when year-over-year sales as well as August-to-September sales had increased.
Sales were up in the West, however, primed by discounted foreclosures. October sales in the West were 38% greater than a year earlier. The median price in the West -- defined as the 13 states west of Texas -- was down 27% in October from a year earlier, to $231,400.
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