Not All Pricing Trends Are Down ...

. . . in fact, some are up. Writer Kenneth Harney, based in Washington D.C., reported August 12 about median price increases in Chevy Chase-Bethesda areas, by zip code.

In today's Los Angeles Times, a convenient interactive zip code finder is an interesting feature for finding median prices comparing July 2007 to July 2006. For instance, 90803, a Long Beach area of affluence, ocean views, and mixed single family residences, residential units, and condos, adjacent to the shoreline and a few blocks in, shows a median price increase from under $1,000,000 last year to over $1,000,000 this year, and an increase in the number of sales as well. Go to nearby zip code 90815, an area of mostly single family homes near a shopping center, schools and local libraries, and see the price and number of sales change upward only slightly since last year. On the other hand, Cerritos zip code 90703 has seen an 11% decrease in number of sales with a 3% median price decrease from $690,000 to $668,000 this year.
North Long Beach area 90805 has an 11% decrease in price and an almost 40% decrease in number of sales. This would be more the land of opportunity for the right buyer in the $400,000 price range for a house.

You may find, however, that data is different depending on which source you use: See the zip code chart published in Sunday editions of the Los Angeles Times.

While certain areas are more connected to subprime loans than others, an area of affluence is still not totally immune, since some borrowers stretched themselves to the limit to get into their new home of choice.

According to the Los Angeles Times article using data from Dataquick, "Los Angeles County's median price rose 5.3%, to $547,000, and sales slid 23%, and Orange County's median was flat at $640,000, as sales fell 19.8%."

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