RISMEDIA, October 25, 2010—Some homes across the country at various price points are selling above asking price, according to the Q3 2010 Home Hunter Report released by ZipRealty. The report reveals that in Q3 2010, California was home to five out of the country’s ten “hottest” zip codes, defined as those zip codes where the average home sale price is most above the average list price by percentage. This is down from California having seven of the top ten hottest zip codes last quarter.
Similarly, the report found that five out of ten zip codes nationwide where homes were selling most below asking price for the same time period were located in Florida. Florida is also down from seven of the markets selling most below asking price in the previous quarter, pointing to a diversification in both the highest and lowest sales-to-list price ratios across the country.
Highlights from the ZipRealty Q3 2010 Home Hunter Report:
-The Chicago area’s Greater Grand Crossing neighborhood (60619) is the country’s “hottest” zip code, with homes selling on average for almost 9% above the asking price. Another Chicago neighborhood, downtown’s Loop (60603), also tops the list, with condos in this high-end zip code selling for an average of more than $1 million, or an average of more than 5% above the asking price in Q3.
-A San Francisco proper neighborhood, the Excelsior, made the country’s top ten list for the first time, with homes selling for an average of more than $14,000 above asking price in Q3. While California no longer entirely dominates the country’s “hottest” markets list, three of the ten zip codes selling most above asking price nationwide were located in the Bay Area, including two in Oakland and one in Berkeley.
-In addition to California and Chicago, rounding out the “hot” list in Q3 are Covington, Wash., outside of Seattle, Fort Lauderdale, FL,—both new to the “hot” list—and North Las Vegas.
-Overall, the hot markets are selling for significantly less above asking price than they were at the same time last year. Homes in the country’s ten hottest zip codes sold for an average of 5% above asking price in Q3 of this year, as compared to an average of 13% above asking price in Q3 2009.
-In the country’s “coldest” zip code, 27708 in Durham, N.C., homes sold for an average of only 81% of the list price in Q3.
-The spread of the sales-to-list price ratio lessened significantly from one quarter previous, with homes in Q2’s coldest market—Winchester, Conn., —fetching only 72% of asking price on average last quarter.
-High-end housing markets continue to offer relative bargains for buyers, with homes in the 34102 zip code of Naples, Fla., selling on average for $370,000 below an asking price of almost $2.3 million, and homes in the 33480 zip code of Palm Beach, Fla., selling on average for $212,000 below an asking price of more than $1.2 million.
“While we’ve seen California top the list of the country’s ‘hottest’ home sale markets for some time, we’re now seeing signs that buyers in other markets across the country—including hard-hit regions like Florida and Las Vegas—may be taking advantage of the historically low pricing and interest rates characterizing today’s market,” said John Oldham, director of marketing for ZipRealty. “The gap between homes selling most above and below asking price appears to be decreasing, an encouraging sign that prices may be stabilizing and both buyers and sellers could be adjusting to the new market reality.”
Phoenix is Nation’s Most Popular City for Home Hunters
According to the total number of home searches on www.ZipRealty.com throughout Q3, the Phoenix area remains the most popular city searched for the second straight year, or eight consecutive quarters. Phoenix proper and its suburbs claimed eight of the top 25 most searched cities, while the Las Vegas area took ten of the spots on that list. Florida had a stronger representation in the top 10 most searched list than in quarters before, with Kissimee and Ft. Lauderdale joining Orlando in the top searches list.
For more information, visit www.ziprealty.com.
