House prices appear to be nearing a stop in their drop.
Jacksonville’s average house sales price in January was 3.4 percent below the price in January 2011, according to the LPS Applied Analytics division of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services.
LPS monthly data indicate that the year-over-year price gaps are narrowing, although they remain well below market peaks.
In fact, LPS found that Jacksonville’s average home price was down 1.2 percent in January from December and is projected to drop an even slower 0.2 percent between January and February.
Still, Jacksonville’s average home sales price was down almost 39 percent from the area’s market peak of $221,000 in June 2006.
The average sales price among single-family houses and condominiums in metro Jacksonville was $135,000 in January, down from $140,000 the year before, LPS found. Numbers are rounded.
That compares to the state’s overall price decline of 45.9 percent from the statewide peak of $271,000 in April 2006 and the U.S. sales price decline of 26.4 percent from the national peak of $264,000, also in June 2006.
The average price in Florida was $147,000 in January and it was $195,000 in the country.
Year-over-year, Jacksonville performed below Florida and the nation.
Florida’s average price overall dropped 1.3 percent over the year while the average price in the United States dropped 3.2 percent.
LPS said Florida’s average price fell 1.1 percent from December to January and is estimated to fall a lower 0.3 percent from January to February.
The U.S. average price drop also is slowing. It fell 0.9 percent from December to January and is projected to drop 0.3 percent from January to February.
LPS analyzed 30 market areas in Florida and found that five areas posted an increase in average sales prices in January from the year before.
The five are around the state, led by Cape Coral-Fort Myers showing the largest year-over-year increase of 3.5 percent to $149,000. Naples-Marco Island followed with a gain of 2 percent to $233,000.
The other three areas of price increases consisted of Orlando-Kissimmee, Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice and Wauchula. All showed gains of less than 1 percent.
One area, Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, held steady from January 2011 to January this year.
Key West again led with the highest average sales price – at $338,000. Naples-Marco Island was No. 2.
Jacksonville’s price change was No. 18 in the state.
No. 30 was Homosassa Springs, where the January price was $104,000, 8.2 percent below January 2011.
Clewiston, which is in South Florida between Fort Myers and Palm Beach, on the shore of Lake Okeechobee, continued with the lowest average price, at $82,000 in January, 5.1 percent below January 2011.
The LPS Applied Analytics Home Price Index summarizes national home prices by tracking monthly prices in more than 15,500 ZIP codes.
Lender Processing Services provides integrated technology, services and mortgage performance data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries.
The company recently announced its LPS HPI with residential sales concluded during January.
The Daily Record requested an analysis of Florida areas and of competitor cities and will report further on the research in coming days.
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January-January house price changes
The LPS Applied Analytics Division of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services Inc. recently reported its updated home price index with residential sales nationwide. It also provided information about metropolitan areas and cities in Florida. Its research included the average house sales price in January 2012 and January 2011 and average price gain or decline over the year. Jacksonville’s price decline of 3.4 percent ranked it No. 18 among the 30 Florida areas analyzed. Dollar figures and percentages are rounded. All figures are calculated by LPS Applied Analytics.
| Area | January average price | Change from January 2011 |
| Cape Coral-Fort Myers | $149,000 | + 3.5% |
| Naples-Marco Island | $233,000 | + 2.0% |
| Orlando-Kissimmee | $136,000 | + 0.9% |
| Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice | $173,000 | + 0.8% |
| Wauchula | $133,000 | + 0.3% |
| Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville | $126,000 | 0.0% |
| Key West | $338,000 | - 0.3% |
| Port St. Lucie | $140,000 | - 0.4% |
| The Villages | $185,000 | - 0.5% |
| Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach | $162,000 | - 1.1% |
| Florida | $147,000 | - 1.3% |
| Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent | $130,000 | - 1.8% |
| Punta Gorda | $132,000 | - 1.8% |
| Sebastian-Vero Beach | $160,000 | - 1.8% |
| Okeechobee | $94,000 | - 2.3% |
| Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater | $129,000 | - 2.3% |
| Fort Walton Beach-Crestview-Destin | $178,000 | - 2.4% |
| U.S. | $195,000 | - 3.2% |
| Palatka | $119,000 | - 3.3% |
| Jacksonville | $135,000 | - 3.4% |
| Ocala | $115,000 | - 3.5% |
| Lake City | $115,000 | - 3.7% |
| Arcadia | $89,000 | - 3.8% |
| Lakeland | $112,000 | - 3.8% |
| Sebring | $106,000 | - 4.1% |
| Clewiston | $82,000 | - 5.1% |
| Gainesville | $137,000 | - 5.5% |
| Tallahassee | $139,000 | - 5.7% |
| Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach | $123,000 | - 6.5% |
| Panama City-Lynn Haven | $144,000 | - 6.6% |
| Palm Coast | $139,000 | - 7.2% |
| Homosassa Springs | $104,000 | - 8.2% |