Unsustainable Home Price Growth Leads to Meager Home Sales in Some Counties

Home prices increased over the month and year in February in the majority of the 42 counties reviewed in DataQuick’s latest Property Intelligence Report. Home sales increased in the majority of the large counties over the month but not over the year, according to DataQuick.

San Francisco-based DataQuick, a real estate information solutions provider, releases its Property Intelligence Report monthly, revealing movement in home prices, home sales, and foreclosures in 42 large counties across the United States.

Home prices increased in 38 counties over the month of February and 39 counties over the year ending in February.

Home sales were up in 29 counties over the month but just 16 counties over the year, according to DataQuick.

“While we saw a slight uptick from the extremely low sales levels reported in January, total sales remain far below historical levels,” said Gordon Crawford, VP of analytics at DataQuick.

The tapering off of home sales is in part due to “unsustainable home price growth,” according to Crawford. While home price growth may be slowing, it remains high, he said.

The number of counties reporting declining foreclosures slipped in February after a strong showing in January. Nineteen markets reported declines in foreclosures in February, after 31 reported declines in January, according to DataQuick.

At least a couple counties demonstrated large jumps in foreclosures following significant declines a month earlier. Lee County, Florida, where Fort Meyers is located, experienced a 63 percent increase in foreclosures in February after a 45 percent drop in January. At the same time, Fulton County, Georgia, where Atlanta is located, experienced a 42 percent increase in foreclosures in February after a 38 percent drop in January.

Check out the full report below:

March 2014 DataQuick Property Intelligence Report