National Median home price falls to $169,000 in Q1 2009

• National median home price of single family homes sold during the first quarter fell 13.8% to $169,000 YoY and –6.2% QoQ in Q4 2008
• Much of the loss was attributed to two factors
  1. First-time homebuyers, who are often entry-level buyers, accounted for about 1/2 of all purchases during the quarter.
  2. Many home buyers took advantage of the deeply discounted prices of foreclosed properties and short sales.

These “distressed properties” typically sell for 20% less than traditional homes, according to NAR. 

• Sales volume was weak as well.  Homes sold at a 4.59 million annualized rate during the quarter, off 3.2% from Q4 2008 and down –6.8% YoY in Q1 2008.

Pat Newport, a real estate analyst with IHS Global Insight found NAR's state sales volume statistics especially telling - and far from positive. "That tells me the market is still not healthy," he said.

Year-over-year sales volume increased substantially in only a few states, mostly one-time boom areas.

• Sales were way up in Nevada (116.8%)
• California (80.6%)
• Arizona (50.2%)
• Florida (25%)
• Virginia (12.2%)
• Minnesota (11.9%)
• Washington (-35.4%)
• Everywhere else they were down for the year.

"Where prices are down the sharpest, sales volume is up the most," said Mike Larson, a real estate analyst for Weiss Research. "In the post-bubble markets, we've seen more rationality come in."

Source: CNN Money