By Arlenys Tabare
Although home prices in many states across the country have soared to historic levels, preventing many first-time buyers from accessing these properties, real estate data from ATTOM recently indicated that, due to restructuring in certain areas of the country, costs have fallen by up to a third.
Through a report, ATTOM compared the average housing prices in certain cities in the country, and noted that in the first quarter of this year in at least 39 of 129 largest cities costs decreased considerably; Many of these areas are located in states such as Florida and California.
According to the analysis, prices have fallen by up to 9% compared to the previous year; However, many of these declines are also being seen in cities where costs skyrocketed during the pandemic and have remained steady since.
Bryce Ocepek, a real estate agent, commented that it is common for “the product (the home) to remain on the market, then they lower the price, then it stays there longer and they lower the price again, and in the end it ends up being surpassed by buyers with negotiating power,” he said.
But really, the affordability problem, as other market specialists have raised, is the lack of inventory amid high demand, and Until it is resolved with greater supply, prices will remain high nationwide.
For his part, Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com, commented that another problem that also affects the sector and affects certain metropolitan areas is the rapid increase in home insurance and property taxes.
For example, average home insurance costs in the southwest region increased by up to 18%, primarily due to geographic risks. “Premiums are highest in the southern part of the state of Florida, where hurricanes threaten a large concentration of high-value homes. The most expensive counties are Monroe ($22,436), Miami-Dade ($15,715) and Palm Seaside ($14,235),” he highlights. a report from Insurify.
In this case, Ocepek adds that “When a property becomes uninsurable due to damage sustained by a hurricane, its value depreciates significantly; It’s not just a few points. “That can also skew the data a bit, where some properties depreciate drastically, while others maintain their value depending on whether they were affected by the hurricane or not.”
However, Krimmel believes that, Unlike previous years, currently the real estate market is improving the outlook for future buyers, “Although I wouldn’t say that it is a complete recovery or that it has returned to normal. It just seems that it is normalizing a little,” he highlighted.
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