Nationally, there is a lot of talk recently about the real estate “recovery”. Some areas are seeing double-digit median home price appreciation rates this year over last year. While that is great news for the country as a whole, in those areas that did not see drastic reductions in median home prices, such as ours, what is the status of median home prices?
The graph below charts median home prices in Benton and Franklin County per quarter since quarter 1 2002 provided by the Washington State University College of Business Washington Center for Real Estate Research.
As you can see, the Median Home Prices per quarter have risen in the last 10 years from $137,400 in quarter 1, 2002 to $181,400 in quarter 2, 2012. That represents a 32.02% increase in ten years, an 11.22% increase in five years, and a 4.01% increase in the past year.
Between 1995 and 2011, house prices in Benton and Franklin Counties have appreciated at an average of 4.695% per year. How does this compare with the state as a whole? Interestingly, this appreciation has outpaced Washington State appreciation. If you look at the graph below, you will see that the two lines appreciate at a fairly even rate until the mid ‘00s when the statewide appreciation increased dramatically and then came back down. Overall the statewide appreciation rate was 4.001% per year from 1995 through 2011.
If you have any questions regarding appreciation in your particular area, please call us. You can reach Jennifer at (509) 947-5670 or Jessica at (509) 947-2230 to learn more about what the real estate market is doing in your neck of the woods.
