5. Tallahassee, Fla.
> Pct. change: -3.8%
> Sales price 2012: $144,400
> Sales price 2011: $150,100
> Aug. 2012 Unemployment: 7.4%
> Aug. 2011 Unemployment: 8.9%
As the housing bubble burst, real estate markets in many Florida towns suffered far more than Tallahassee’s. At the start of 2012, home prices in Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormund, Palm Coast, and Lakeland-Winter Haven areas plummeted by more than 50% from their peaks, according to Fiserv. However, in the last 12 months, home sale prices in Tallahassee dropped the most out of all the cities in Florida. In the third quarter of 2011, the area’s median home sold for just over $150,000, nearly identical to its median price in 2009. Since then, prices have slipped nearly 4% to $144,400 in the third quarter of 2012.
4. Madison, Wisc.
> Pct. change: -4.3%
> Sales price 2012: $210,600
> Sales price 2011: $220,100
> Aug. 2012 Unemployment: 5.2%
> Aug. 2011 Unemployment: 5.2%
Median sales prices in Madison have fluctuated a good deal in the first three quarters of 2012. The median sale price in the third quarter was $210,600, down $6,000 from the second quarter but up $11,400 from the first quarter. Home sales are growing across Wisconsin as a whole — total sales were up 4.6% in September compared to the previous year, and compared to a drop of 1.7% across the U.S. But sale prices in the state went up just 0.2% in September compared to 11.3% nationwide.
Also Read: 10 Cities With The Hottest Housing Markets
3. Binghamton, N.Y.
> Pct. change: -6.6%
> Sales price 2012: $112,600
> Sales price 2011: $120,500
> Aug. 2012 Unemployment: 8.9%
> Aug. 2011 Unemployment: 7.9%
Just like the rest of the nation, home prices in the Binghamton area fell between 2009 and 2011, but the 1.6% drop was less than the national decline of 3.4% in that time. Prices have continued to fall since the third quarter of 2011. The biggest decrease took place between the third quarter and fourth quarter of 2011, when prices tumbled by $10,700 to $109,800. The median sale price fell again in the second quarter of 2012 to $109,200. And although it rose to $114,000 in the third quarter, it didn’t recover enough to reach its third quarter 2011 level. While unemployment fell across the country, the jobless rate in Binghamton rose a whole percentage point between Aug. 2011 and Aug. 2012.
2. York-Hanover, Penn.
> Pct. change: -9.4%
> Sales price 2012: $143,900
> Sales price 2011: $158,900
> Aug. 2012 Unemployment: 8.0%
> Aug. 2011 Unemployment: 8.0%
Over the last year, the median sale price of a home in the York-Hanover area plunged by nearly 10% to $143,900 — more than $40,000 below the U.S median of $186,100. Housing prices have fallen despite a 20% drop in inventory — the supply of homes being sold — in the city of York. Not only are sales prices down, but sellers have adjusted as well; median listing price has declined by more than $4,000 to $165,000 in the last 12 months, according to Realtor.com. However, lower prices have helped attract more home buyers — 2,816 homes have been sold in the first nine months of 2012 in York County, a 6% rise compared to the first nine months of 2011, when 2,655 were sold.
1. Raleigh-Cary, N.C.
> Pct. change: -16.1%
> Sales price 2012: $188,200
> Sales price 2011: $224,300
> Aug. 2012 Unemployment: 7.8%
> Aug. 2011 Unemployment: 9.0%
Home prices have taken a hard fall in the Raleigh area, sinking 16.1% between the third quarter of 2011 and the third quarter of 2012. The median sale price of $188,200 in the third quarter of 2012 was well below the median sale prices of $215,400 in 2009 and the median sale price of $217,600 and 2010. The recent plunging median home price is a correction from 2011, when home values in the Raleigh area appreciated by 7% — better than any other housing market in the country. In fact, Builder Magazine in 2011 named the Raleigh housing market the healthiest of the largest 100 metropolitan areas.
-By Alexander E.M. Hess, Samuel Weigley, Michael B. Sauter
