Prices continued to moderate in the first quarter of 2011. The median price for a sold condo for the period was $222,500 off 14% from the previous quarter and down 23% from the first quarter of 2010.
78 condos changed hands compared with 87 a year ago and the 141 condos sold in the final quarter of 2010. Bank owned (REO) and short sale listings made up nearly 50% of all condo closings in the first quarter of this year, an increase of slightly less than 10% from the year ago period.
Home sales totaled 11 in the first quarter of 2011, down from 17 sold in the same quarter last year. The median price of a sold home was $765,000, just $5000 off 2010's first quarter median but up sharply from the $649,000 median price of homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Only 2 homes transacted in this year's first quarter belonged to banks or were sold short compared with 40% of homes sold in the first quarter of 2010 and 58% in the fourth quarter.
Meanwhile price pressure is not coming from an oversupply as listing inventories remain fairly stable. There are 50 homes currently on the market and 203 condos, including 17 bank owned and 27 short sale listings. Rather, price pressure is coming from the distressed sector—REO's and short sales.
