Posted by Tim Burrell - It is true that housing has problems, banking has problems and there are more foreclosures.  But, did you know that most of the prices of homes in the United States are going up? Did you know that these prices have been going up consistently since February?  Do you think that information would help prevent a recession?

Here are the facts.  According to National Association of Realtor statistics, the median home price has fallen from a high of $230,200 in July 2006 to a low in February 2008 at $195,600, a drop of 15%. That is the bad news, and that is what you hear in the media.  Since February, however, the median home price has risen steadily every month. By May the index had risen to $208,600, up $13,000 and a full 6.6%. It will be interesting to see what the next index shows when it comes out the end of July.  Another indicator, the mean home price (most of us would call it the average home price),  has risen from a low of $242,000 in February of this year to $253,100, a rise of $11,100 or 4.5%. It, too, has risen every month since February of this year.  That is the good news.   Have you heard any good news about real estate in the media?

In the Triangle, we did not have the orginal bad news, our market has always been better than the national average.   Instead of going down by 15% in the last year like the rest of the nation, our average sales price went up, from $270,065 in June of 2007 to $278,506 in June of 2008.  If you like median numbers, they went up over the last year also, from 218,000 to $221,900.  Our supply of homes for sale has increased, and it is taking longer to sell the average house, but our average days on the market is a respectable 82.  The Triangle market is not as good as it has been as there is a nine months supply of homes to sell, but I cannot find anything that supports the media "doom and gloom".

We really appreciate our clients who listen to us instead of the media, because they are making a killing in the market.  The media is making everyone think it is a buyers market when, in fact, the prices are increasing.  So, our smart clients are picking up great deals.  We are having a wonderful time negotiating with people who listen to the media instead of knowing the true facts.

So, our Team wants to have a little contest.  We are stumped by the media. Why would they give the image that prices are going down when they are going up?  Why would they want to create problems for all of us who own homes, when I cannot find support for their stories?   Whoever has the best explanation, or possibly the most humorous explanation, will win a $25 American Express Gift Card.  Just send your answer to tim@TimBurrell.com and watch our blog at www.TeamForYOUrDreams.com/blog for the winner.