Prices of Existing Homes Rise Across Much of the Country

WASHINGTON —  Demand for previously owned homes is driving up prices throughout most of the nation, a real estate trade group reported Wednesday.

The National Assn. of Realtors said prices of existing homes rose in 109 of 127 metropolitan areas for the first quarter of this year over the same period of 1991.

The national median price of an existing home was $103,100, up 6.7% from the January-March quarter of 1991, the survey found. It ranged from $342,000 in Honolulu to $41,700 in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, area.

The median means half of the homes cost more and half cost less.

For the second quarter in a row, Spokane, Wash., experienced the fastest-growing prices for existing homes, up 26% to $71,300. They had risen 19% from October through December.

But regionally, the Midwest saw the biggest price boosts. The median cost of an existing home there was up 6.2% to $81,000. It was followed by the South, where prices rose 6.1% to $90,500.

Prices of existing homes advanced 3.8% to $142,900 in the Northeast and 1.9% to $147,700 in the West.

In California, the median sales price of an existing single-family home rose 0.9%, from $195,500 in fourth-quarter 1991 to $197,200 in first-quarter 1992, according to a California Assn. of Realtors report. The first-quarter 1992 figure edged up 0.8% from the comparable period of 1991, when the median-priced home sold for $195,650.

National Assn. of Realtors President Dorcas T. Helfant said a shortage of existing homes is having an impact on prices in some areas.

“In some Midwestern and Southern cities there is very little inventory, and this is putting pressure on existing home prices in those markets,” she said.

Besides Honolulu in the West, the most expensive housing in each region was found in Newark, N.J., in the Northeast, where the median price was $180,200; Washington, D.C., in the South, $152,500, and Chicago in the Midwest, $131,100.

Despite the rising prices, the Realtors survey showed that relatively low mortgage rates continued to lure buyers.

Sales of existing homes rose 11.3% from first quarter to first quarter, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.77 million units.

Home Resale Prices

Here are the median resale prices for previously owned homes in 127 metropolitan areas in the United States from January through March, followed by the percentage change from the same period in 1991, based on a survey by the National Assn. of Realtors. NA indicates that 1992 figures are not available.

Akron $75,500 10.5 Albany 109.400 2.5 Albuquerque 86,700 4.2 Amarillo 57,600 -1.5 Anaheim-Santa Ana 235,100 -1.1 Appleton, Wis. 73,000 10.8 Atlanta 85,800 -0.5 Atlantic City 110,000 4.0 Aurora, Ill. 118,900 6.8 Baltimore 111,500 8.3 Baton Rouge 71,800 13.8 Beaumont, Tex. 59,900 7.9 Bergen-Passaic 179,800 -1.4 Biloxi 56,600 0.7 Birmingham 89,500 7.1 Boise City 79,400 2.8 Boston 168,200 5.1 Bradenton, Fla. 80,400 NA Buffalo 79,700 2.3 Canton, Ohio 70,100 14.9 Cedar Rapids 67,200 19.1 Champaign, Ill. 64,200 2.1 Charleston, S.C. 82,000 5.4 Charleston, W.Va. 68,400 10.9 Charlotte 107,200 7.3 Chattanooga 72,700 5.5 Chicago 131,100 7.3 Cincinnati 87,500 4.7 Cleveland 88,100 8.6 Columbia, S.C. 85,100 9.4 Columbus 90,300 10.0 Corpus Christi 62,500 -6.0 Dallas 90,500 4.6 Dayton 78,800 5.3 Daytona Beach 63,600 6.4 Denver 91,300 9.9 Des Moines 71,200 11.9 Detroit 77,500 -1.1 El Paso 65,900 0.8 Eugene, Ore. 75,100 6.2 Fargo 72,000 12.3 Ft. Lauderdale 94,100 4.4 Ft. Myers, Fla. 69,800 2.2 Ft. Worth 80,700 7.3 Gainesville, Fla. 75,700 7.1 Gary 75,500 16.5 Grand Rapids 73,000 5.8 Green Bay 71,100 12.7 Greensboro, N.C. 85,400 3.8 Greenville, S.C. 79,600 10.9 Hartford 141,500 -0.9 Honolulu 342,000 0.6 Houston 78,200 9.5 Indianapolis 80,100 4.6 Jackson, Miss. 68,300 1.6 Jacksonville 75,100 7.3 Kalamazoo 69,000 11.3 Kansas City 76,100 4.0 Knoxville 78,300 -0.9 Lake County, Ill. 117,600 8.7 Lansing 68,200 9.5 Las Vegas 101,400 3.3 Lexington 78,300 8.3 Lincoln 66,200 5.8 Los Angeles 218,000 4.8 Louisville 69,700 8.2 Madison 89,400 4.6 Melbourne, Fla. 72,800 6.4 Memphis 83,600 1.5 Miami 97,300 10.6 Middlesex, N.J. 160,700 1.1 Milwaukee 96,100 10.3 Minn.-St. Paul 94,800 4.8 Mobile 63,300 5.5 Monmouth, N.J. 138,200 3.5 Montgomery 79,600 11.0 Nashville 89,000 6.3 Nassau, N.J. 157,400 0.8 Newark 180,200 2.3 New Haven 142,400 -1.5 New Orleans 68,400 -1.7 New York 169,300 -0.1 Norfolk 91,100 7.6 Oklahoma City 59,800 10.1 Omaha 67,400 3.5 Orlando 86,200 4.1 Peoria 54,600 11.7 Philadelphia 119,800 9.4 Phoenix 84,700 0.8 Pittsburgh 74,800 8.4 Portland, Ore. 92,300 8.8 Providence 120,300 -3.9 Raleigh-Durham 101,200 3.9 Reno 116,200 0.3 Richland, Wash. 74,600 11.8 Richmond 96,700 10.5 Riverside-San 137,500 3.2 Bernardino Rochester 83,800 7.6 Rockford, Ill. 72,200 7.4 Sacramento 135,600 0.2 Salt Lake City 73,200 5.5 San Antonio 68,000 14.3 San Diego 182,700 0.4 San Francisco 243,900 -0.4 Sarasota 93,500 10.4 Seattle 141,300 1.6 Shreveport 64,500 4.5 Sioux Falls 66,500 3.7 South Bend 62,500 7.6 Spokane 71,300 26.0 Springfld, Ill. 69,300 9.1 Springfld, Mass. 116,900 0.2 St. Louis 81,600 3.4 Syracuse 77,400 5.3 Tacoma 99,600 7.7 Tampa-St. Pete 70,100 2.9 Toledo 74,000 10.3 Topeka 61,800 9.4 Trenton 128,400 -11.0 Tulsa 68,500 4.6 Washington 152,500 4.8 Waterloo 41,700 -2.6 West Palm Beach 110,700 5.4 Wichita 66,100 1.7 Wilmington 113,500 -1.3 Worcester 127,900 -2.5 Youngstown 54,300 2.3 United States 103,100 6.7