One thing to add with Bugs comment regarding median, it doesn’t take into consideration of shift in buyers. Lets say last month median is 500k and that 2 people buy @400k, 1 person @ 500k, and 2 people @ 600k. If this month, 2 people buy at the same $500k house at $400k, one person buy the $600k house @ $500k, and 2 people buy a $700k house @ 600k. The median would stay the same, but price have dropped 100k. Also, if only 1 person buy a $500k house @ $400k, 1 person buy a $600k house @ $500k, 1 person buy a $600k house @ $550k, and 2 people buy a $700k house @ 600k, the median would be $550k. Although median will show a rise of 10%, real price dropped $100k. That’s why I don’t care much about median price anymore. They’re for the masses who don’t want to do more research. Median statistic either hide the drop in price or shift in buyers, or both. With the sub-prime fiasco and tightening lending standard for sub-prime, I’m pretty sure there’s less people buying low end house today than before this whole fiasco. That will shift the median up.
