Are we there yet?
A Daily Record analysis of housing price data provided by the LPS Applied Analytics Division of Lender Processing Services indicates the bottom might be near, or even here, in the drop of residential real estate sales prices.
Maybe.
LPS Applied Analytics isn’t ready to call the bottom in Jacksonville, or anywhere for that matter.
“There are still a number of factors that could influence home prices,” said Raj Dosaj, vice president for LPS Applied Analytics.
The LPS Applied Analytics Division of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services produces a monthly Home Price Index that summarizes national home prices by tracking monthly transactions in more than 15,000 ZIP codes.
It provided numbers about the 30 major Florida markets, including metropolitan Jacksonville, to the Daily Record.
Those updated numbers show the average sales price in Jacksonville peaked at $217,000 in June 2006, six years ago.
The national recession began in December 2007 and officially ended three years ago in June 2009.
By March, the latest figures available, the price was $142,000, down 34.8 percent from the peak.
However, the $142,000 was down just 1.6 percent from last year.
More notably, it was up 0.7 percent from February and LPS projects it rose 0.5 percent in April. Those follow the 0.2 percent rise in February from January.
Earlier this year, the LPS HPI was adjusted to account for short sales and foreclosure sales, which also adjusted the market highs and lows.
Meanwhile, prices rose in March in all 30 Florida markets, although most at less than 1 percent. They are projected to post slight increases again in April.
Economists have said the recession lasted longer in Florida, a state heavily dependent on real estate.
In fact, while Florida’s real estate industry is generating less of the state’s economy than it did before the recession, it is still by far the state’s biggest private industry.
The Daily Record reported last week that a report on the state’s gross domestic product from the Legislature’s Office of Economic and Demographic Research found that real estate’s share of the GDP dropped from 16.8 percent in 2006 to 15.6 percent in 2011.
The second-largest industry, government, accounted for 12.9 percent of the state’s economy.
Transactions continue to show some increases.
The LPS “First Look” Home Price Index report released this morning shows that the average U.S. sales price of $200,000 was down 0.1 percent in April from April 2011, but was up 1.1 percent from March.
The Florida price of $152,000 was up 0.6 percent over the month and year over year.
Lender Processing Services provides integrated technology, services and mortgage performance data and analytics to the mortgage and real estate industries.
@MathisKb
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The March up in prices
LPS Applied Analytics data show that Jacksonville home transaction prices in March were down over the year, but rose over the month and are projected to rise 0.5 percent in April.
From Price change
June 2006 - 34.8%
April 2009 - 14.0%
March 2011 - 1.6%
February 2012 + 0.7%
The fall from $217,000
Jacksonville’s housing price peaked at $217,000 in June 2006, the same month national housing prices peaked. The drop appears to have hit bottom. The LPS Applied Analytics Division of Jacksonville-based Lender Processing Services Inc. reported its updated home price index with residential sales nationwide. Transaction prices are rounded.
| Date | Price | Drop from peak |
| April 2009 | $165,000 | - 23.9% |
| March 2011 | $144,000 | - 33.6% |
| February 2012 | $141,000 | - 35.5% |
| March 2012 | $142,000 | - 34.8% |