RISMEDIA, April 23, 2010—High-end housing markets were home to the biggest bargains for buyers in the first quarter of this year, according to a Home Hunter Report released by ZipRealty, one of the nation’s leading online-based real estate brokerages.
In one of the country’s most famous zip codes, 90210 in Beverly Hills, homes sold, on average, for 15% below asking price, or an average of $703,964 under asking. Across the country, in Miami’s Palm Beach (33480), buyers paid about a million dollars per purchase and paid an average of $198,693 under asking.
These are just two highlights revealed by ZipRealty’s report, which compares home sale prices to original list prices based on MLS data within 5,400 cities across 33 markets the brokerage serves.
Highlights from the ZipRealty Q1 2010 Home Hunter Report include:
-Zip codes in California remain the country’s “hottest” for buyer demand. California is home to nine out of ten of the country’s hottest zip codes, with homes selling above asking price in parts of the state.
-According to the total number of home searches on www.ZipRealty.com, Phoenix continues to be the most popular searched city in the country.
-Many of the country’s “coldest” markets – those zip codes where homes are selling below list price – continue to be located in South Florida. The report has shown, however, those same “cold” markets are seeing a warming trend, selling on average more than 5% closer to asking price in Q1 2010 than they were in the same time period last year. In Q1 2009, homes in the county’s ten “coldest” markets sold for an average of 77 cents to the dollar while homes in Q1 of this year in those same markets sold for an average of 82 cents to the dollar.
“Based on activity during the first 90 days of 2010, we’re seeing some indicators of a housing market recovery nationally, as buyers have been motivated by the first-time buyer tax credit, low interest rates and low prices,” said Leslie Tyler, vice president and chief home hunter for ZipRealty. “While the first-time and move-up buyer tax credits expire at the end of this month, new short sale regulations may mean more home listings will be available for buyers who are still hoping to take advantage of lower prices.”
Phoenix is Still Nation’s Most Popular City for Home Hunters
According to the total number of home searches on www.ZipRealty.com throughout Q1, the Phoenix area remains the most popular city searched. Phoenix proper and its suburbs Scottsdale, Mesa, Chandler, Gilbert and Glendale claimed more than half of the country’s top spots for most popular cities by home searches on ZipRealty.com. The metro was joined by three Las Vegas areas – two communities in Henderson (Anthem/Seven Hills and Green Valley) and the suburb Summerlin – and Orlando, Fla., to round out the country’s most popular areas for online home hunters.
For more information, visit www.ziprealty.com.
