Home Sales Fall 7 Percent in the South in December

A price reduced placard hangs below the sale sign outside an existing home on the market in the...

A price reduced placard hangs below the sale sign outside an existing home on the market in the south Denver suburb of Englewood, Colo., on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009. A real estate group said Monday, sales of existing homes rose 6.5 percent from November to December, closing out the worst year for the U.S. real estate market in more than a decade. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

(AP)

Existing home sales in Southern states fell nearly 7 percent in December compared to the same month last year, while the median sales price slid 8 percent to $158,600, the National Association of Realtors reported Monday.

Nationally, December sales rose slightly compared to a year ago, led by foreclosure sales in the Western region, while the U.S. median sales price fell 15.3 percent to $175,400.

Lower home prices and average mortgage rates near 5 percent are bringing some buyers out of the woodwork in the South, but not enough to combat low confidence in a housing market that still is dealing with foreclosures, financial market pressures, job losses and a national credit crunch.

"Prices are under pressure throughout the entire south, and they're under more pressure in Florida than any other state," said Jeff Humphreys, director of economic forecasting at the University of Georgia.

Sixteen Southern metro areas posted declining sales compared to the year-ago period, with six areas reporting sales gains, according to the Associated Press-Re/Max Housing Report, also released Monday. The report analyzed all home sales recorded by all real estate agents, regardless of company affiliation, in those metropolitan statistical areas.

Meanwhile, the median home price declined in all but two of the 22 metro areas covered by the AP-Re/Max report.

Lower prices, partly caused by a high amount of foreclosures that are "priced to go" by banks eager to get distressed properties off their books, spurred a 68 increase in sales in Miami compared to December 2007, the AP-Re/Max report showed. The median sales price for December was $190,000, a drop of 34 percent, the biggest decline among the Southern metro areas covered by the AP-Re/Max report.

Elsewhere in Florida, Sales were up 30 percent in Orlando and 5 percent in Tampa, though prices were down more than 25 percent in both cities.

Humphreys said foreclosures and a high inventory of homes would keep prices moving downwards in the South region into 2010.