Chris Evans Buys New Lair in Los Angeles

BUYER: Chris Evans
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,250,000
SIZE: 4,599 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: We first heard word from Yolanda Yakketyak a few days ago and then we heard it again this morning from Lucy Spillerguts who both snitched that body-licious actor Chris Evans dropped a bit more than $3.5 million on a walled and gated superhero-worthy lair high above Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, CA.

Young Mister Evans, now in his early thirties, has primarily made a Showbiz name for himself portraying super-empowered superheros in a trio of money-minting blockbuster film franchises adapted from comic book stories: the Fantastic Four, The Avengers and Captain America. According to the fine folk at Box Office Mojo just those three, still rolling franchises have hauled in more than a billion bucks in gross theater receipts and that's not counting all the swag and crap they market and sell the hell out of with these big tent fantasy-action superhero flicks. Here's hoping Mister Evans teams of managers, agents and business managers managed to snag a bit of the back end of those juggernauts.

Mister Evans also had a small part the well regarded fantasy-comedy Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, a starring roll in the also well regarded Danny Boyle directed sci-fi thriller Sunshine and the romantic lead in the unmitigated box office flop The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond with skilled Tinseltown scion-ess Bryce Dallas Howard.

For better and worse Mister Evens is probably as well known for his well-formed physique. Much to the drooling delight of lusty people of all persuasions he is frequently photographed shirtless with his thigh-thick biceps a-bulge, his abs a-ripple and his body hair meticulously manicured. Not unexpectedly the six foot tall side of man-beef has over his nearly 15 years in Tinseltown attracted and (allegedly) dated a slew of also well-formed and high profile females who include Kate Bosworth, Jessica Biel, Gisele Bündchen, Christina Ricci and Amy Smart. So the tabs and gossip glossies say, Mister Evens is currently romantically entangled with actress Minka Kelly (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, the t.v. series Charlie's Angels) who herself has a bit of a thing for well-formed and high profile man-friends including but not limited to Derek Jeter, John Mayer and Donald Faison.

Property records and other online resources reveal the seller purchased the property only last June (2012) for $1,901,000, gave it a once over with the renovation stick by the Stewart-Gulrajani Designs team and popped it back on the market in February (2013) with a $3.5 million price tag. There appears to have been some competition for the freshly rehabbed residence because it quickly went into escrow and sold in early April for twenty grand over the asking price.

A high wall with locked and secured entry gates zig-zags its way around and completely encloses the front yard that is both usually roomy and flat for a house located this high in the hills. The landscaping plan called for a long patch of grass cut by a uniformly repetitious row of large rectangular concrete pavers that lead to the front door. To one side the lawn is punctuated by a two-tiered square fountain set into a pill-shaped crushed granite pad. Your Mama suggests aggressively prickly bougainvillea be planted around the perimeter that's encouraged to balloon and drape in a riot of fuchsia over the top of the wall. Just a thought.

Listing details Your Mama managed to squirrel out of the depths of the interweb shows the newly stucco-sided and fully contemporized ranch residence has three bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms, a count that may or may not include the separate but attached one bedroom and one bathroom guest/staff apartment.

A barely there entry vestibule spills immediately into the formal living room with dark brown wood floors, a pitched ceiling and a simple firebox set into a masonry wall flanked by two nearly floor to ceiling windows that frame sweeping canyon, mountain top and San Fernando Valley views.

The adjacent dining room has a vaulted ceiling crossed by a muscular exposed truss with rugged steel hardware. The room is well equipped with a built-in wet bar/serving station and a wall of glass doors that expose the room to the same expansive views as the living room.

The less formal living areas center around a spacious open-concept kitchen that's expensively equipped with a 60-inch commercial-style name-brand range surmounted by a massive 10-foot wide industrial stainless steel vent hood. There's also, according to listing details, a built-in microwave, a warming drawer (or two), a pair of dishwashers, a side-by-side fridge and freezer set up, and a built-in Euro-brand coffee maker. The dark wood custom cabinets are topped by a uniformly striated slabs of stone that listing details call out as "Italian Bianca Marble." Only the massive, bi-level center island/snack bar separates the kitchen from the somewhat slender family room that opens through a series of collapsing glass doors to backyard and swimming pool.

The master suite is complete with a full wall of nearly floor to ceiling windows that drink up the over-the-mountain-top views. A bedroom-sized room dressing room has a vaulted exposed beamed wood ceiling and at least one large window and the adjoining bathroom has limestone tile flooring (or some other fancy stone), a free-standing soaking tub with peek-a-boo mountain views, a separate, glassed-in steam shower and a vanity topped with what appears to Your Mama to be some sort of Calacatta marble but is identified in listing details as "Italian Calcutta." Believe it or not, puppies Calcutta and Calacatta marbles are different. Anyways...

Like the family room, wide expanses of glass doors fold back to expose the room to the sweeping view over the San Fernando Valley side of Laurel Canyon. A floating ipe wood deck extends the resident's private quarters to an only semi-private space clearly if distantly visible from most if now all other areas of the long, wedge-shaped backyard.

Off to one side and beyond the concrete terracing along the back of the house and around the dark-bottom free-form pool and elevated circular spa, there's an elevated, tree-shaded viewing spot ringed by a meandering stone wall. Just below that a long poured concrete bench runs along the slope near a built in fire pit.

Above the attached two-car garage and blessed with a separate, private exterior entrance is a handy-dandy guest house with a small but high-grade open-plan kitchen that's probably bigger and better equipped than the average person's kitchen, a living/dining room with expansive panoramic view, a separate bedroom with access to private balcony through a sliding glass door, and a crisply modern full bathroom.

As it turns out, Mister Evans's new digs happen to be just down the street from the spacious mansion his ex-girlfriend Jessica Biel now shares with her new husband Justin Timberlake who bought the property in 2002 for $8,300,000 from actress Helen Hunt. The promontory perched compound at the end of the street has long been shrouded in mystery but—so the gossip goes—is owned by Tom Cruise.

Property records—and Lucy Spillerguts—tell us that the Lexus-driving Mister Evans has owned another house above Laurel Canyon in the Hollywood Hills that's just a quarter mile as the crow flies from his new house since 2007 when he paid $1,260,000 for a two-story, 1977 mock-Med foreclosure situation with three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms in 2,386 square feet. As far as we know, the property is not currently on the open market.

listing photos: LAMERICA

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Can The Right Color Help Sell Your Home Faster?

When it comes to selling your home in Seattle , you've probably thought of the most common staging tricks, such as clearing out the clutter to make your rooms look bigger and bringing in more light to brighten things up.

However, have you considered that the colors in your house might affect whether buyers are interested?

First impressions are everything when you are selling a house, so think about how the colors you choose will likely influence your potential buyers. A new coat of paint could be a simple and effective way to make your house more appealing.

Here are a few additional tips:

Choose Mellow, Neutral Shades

When a potential buyer is looking at your house, they want to be able to imagine themselves living there. If your walls are painted in lime green or hot pink, it can be difficult for a buyer to relate the house to their own tastes.

Instead, use neutral colors, such as cream, olive, beige and ivory. Then the walls become a blank canvas where prospective buyers can project their own style preferences.

Create the Illusion of Space

In order to make a space within your home feel larger, you can use a very light neutral color such as white, tan or pale grey. This will reflect more light and give the impression of a more expansive interior.

You can also try painting the moldings the same color as the walls, which will make the ceilings look higher.

Don't Forget About Exterior Color

It's easy to focus on the interior of a house and forget about the outside, but the front of the house is the first thing potential buyers will see. Curb appeal can be a huge factor in their decision.

Caution: Lead-Based Paint

One important word of caution regarding the paint in your home is the issue of lead-based paint.

Lead-based paint was most common in homes built or painted prior to 1978. If your home falls in that age category, it may require further testing to ensure that the paint covering your walls is free of lead.

Color has a psychological effect on people, whether they are aware of it or not. You'll be amazed at the difference the right colors can make in selling or improving your home.

If you would like more home staging and selling tips, please contact your trusted real estate professional today!

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Tony Dovolani Dances Out of Connecticut Crib

SELLER: Tony Dovolani and Trebelina "Lina" Jani Dovolani
LOCATION: Stratford, CT
PRICE: $399,000
SIZE: 2,020 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: This morning Your Mama received—along with every other property gossip, we presume—an entirely unexpected press release that announced Albanian-born professional ballroom dancer Tony Dovolani has listed his humble (and perfectly ordinary) home in historic and suburban Stratford, CT with a $399,000 price tag.

Stratford, in case some of the children aren't familiar with the Greater New York metropolitan area, is about 62 miles from Midtown Manhattan along the jam-packed and traffic choked I-95 corridor between Bridgeport and Milford. The community was founded in the late 1630s by Puritans who probably found its geographic location at the mouth of the Housatonic River that pours into the Long Island Sound ideal for all the obvious reasons.

Since 2006, Mister Dovolani—now pushing 40 but still in possession of the firm body of a 25 year old—has twinkled his fox trotting toes on the long-running and still wildly popular Dancing With the Stars program. Over his 15 consecutive seasons the champion dancer has shaken his money maker with a long list of celebrity and semi-celebrity ladies such as professional wrestler turned actress Stacy Keibler, the legendary Jane Seymour, baby factory Kate Gosselin, Kathy Ireland—the model not the decorator, radio sassy pants Wendy Williams, and tennis great Martina Navratilova. Early on Mister Dovolani received an Emmy nomination for his Jive dancing choreographic efforts and last fall he won the hotly contested dance competition for the first time with partner Melissa Rycroft.* Mister Dovolani, so our research reveals, co-owns a small but growing chain of dance studios with—among others—the Chmerkovskiy brothers Maksim and Valentin, also of Dancing With the Stars fame, and their father Sasha.

Property records show Mister Dovolani and his wife‚ Trendelina "Lina" Jani Dovolani,** purchased the residence in March 2005 for $391,000.

The Dovolani's middle-class-modest, vinyl sided residence was built in 1999 near the tail end of a cul-de-sac on a .17 acre lot according to the Fairfield County Tax Man and the 2,020 square foot house—listing information called it a raised ranch, whatever that is—has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and, unusually enough, two kitchens.

The upper level living area is an open-concept living/dining/kitchen space with (molding-free) cathedral ceiling and smooth yellow-blond hardwood floors where Mister and Missus Dovolani can quickly and easily clear out their few bits and pieces of "formal" furniture and cha-cha, quickstep and tango themselves into a frenzy in front of a (gas) fireplace. A sliding glass door in the dining area steps out to a small deck with stairs down to the lower level terrace and backyard. The kitchen certainly looks neat, tidy, functional as well as, well, economically outfitted.

Two not particularly big family bedrooms on the upper floor share a small hall bathroom while the fairly compact, wood-floored master bedroom, also on the upper level, has direct access to a private bathroom. Listing photos show the stylistically challenged and already outdated but well-maintained bathroom has a soaking tub set into a beige-tiled corner and a separate shower stall with one of those molded plastic inserts that—quite frankly—give Your Mama the heebie jeebies.

In addition to an attached two car garage with convenient direct entry, the lower level walk-out basement has a half bathroom and a fully-carpeted family room furnished with little more than a black fabric sectional sofa so big it extends onto the tile flooring in the home's adjoining second kitchen and dining area. Multi-paned sliding glass doors open to a stone-tiled terrace set into the reasonably flat lawn in the partially fenced and not particularly private backyard. Listing photos show a free-standing shed around the side of the house for storing the lawn mower and other gardening implements.

The press release reveals that Mister and Missus Dovolani plan to pack up their belongings and their three children and move to a larger house that better accommodates the size and needs of their family of five.

A thorough sift through various property records data bases reveals Mister Dovolani not only previously owned homes in South Salem, NY, and Ellenton, FL, but may currently own a two-family situation in Bethel, CT, bought in August 2003 for $305,000. Could be occupied by family. Could be an investment property. Could be it's owned by another guy also named Driton Dovolani.


*Truth: Your Mama had never heard of Miz Rycroft before. So, natch, we did a little digging on the internets and discovered she's a bit of a reality show denizen. In 2004 she won a coveted spot as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader on some reality show competition about winning a spot as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. In 2009 she popped up as a contestant on the 13th season of The Bachelor, a televised match-making throw down in which a stiletto-shod pack of romantically hungry (and arguably desperate) women compete for a single eligible (and usually well-built) bachelor-man. Miz Rycroft was selected as the winner by her bachelor catch but, bless her heart, was quickly and unceremoniously dumped for the gal who came in second place or the the runner-up or whatever you call it. 

**How much, children, does Your Mama l.o.v.e. Mister Dovolani's wife's name: Trendelina "Lina" Jani Dovolani. Say it out loud. It's magnificent the way it rolls across the tongue, really, but anyways...

listing photos: Coldwell Banker

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Healthcare Real Estate Trends

In healthcare the one constant is change.  Recently we’ve seen changes in healthcare (and by extension, healthcare real estate) because of The Great Recession, lower reimbursements, healthcare reform, mergers and repurposing (to name a few).  Below are six trends for this year that Duke Realty predicted at the outset of this year.  Now that we have four months of 2013 under our belts, it’s a good time to look back and see how these have played out, and, just as importantly, look forward… and be ready for more change…

1.              Higher-acuity care will increasingly move to medical office buildings.

2.              Freestanding emergency departments will be used in new ways.

3.              Partnering will increase.

4.              The case for hospital-driven monetizations will keep getting stronger.

5.              Repurposing will expand.

6.              Compliance will become even more vital.

I encourage you to read more at:

“Six Healthcare Real Estate Trends to Watch in 2013”

http://www.dukerealty.com/media-releases/2013/01/six-healthcare-real-estate-trends-to-watch-in-2013/

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Fed Meeting Statement Points To Continuing Low Interest Rates

Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) statement indicates the Federal Reserve's commitment to keeping long term interest rates and inflation under control.

The Fed will continue monitoring inflation, but does not expect inflation to rise more than 0.50 percent above its target rate of 2.00 percent over the next one to two years.

Ongoing monitoring of inflation and unemployment, as well as developing economic news, will guide the Fed in its future determinations concerning policy for its present iteration of quantitative easing (QE3).

Currently, the Fed purchases $85 billion of treasury securities and mortgage –backed securities each month with the goal of keeping long-term interest rates lower.

This includes mortgage rates, which can assist homebuyers with qualifying for mortgage loans in an environment of increasing home prices. Other goals include stabilizing the labor market, and limiting inflation.

Job Growth To Be Determining Factor On Fed Interest Rate Action

The statement also noted that the Fed will keep its interest rates between 0.00 and 0.25 percent, until the Fed sees the national unemployment rate fall below 6.50 percent.

While noting that the housing sector is improving, the Fed stated concerns about ongoing high unemployment rates. Jobs are a key aspect to supporting the economy, as 70 percent of the U.S. economy involves the purchase of goods and services by consumers. 

The Fed also repeated its position to evaluate the efficacy of its quantitative easing program; if the agency finds that the program is not achieving their desired objectives, changes to the program can be expected.

While a clear majority of FOMC members voted to keep current policies intact, one member voted against this course of action citing the potential for continued quantitative easing at current levels to fuel inflation.

The bottom line for today's statement is that the Fed continues its "wait and see" position concerning quantitative easing and low federal interest rates.The committee also re-asserted its intention to gradually reduce quantitative easing when it's time for a change.

In addition, the Fed is committed to monitoring a wide range of economic data with an eye toward adjusting its policies in the best interest of economic recovery. 

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Retired B-Baller Mitch Richmond Lists Calabasas Crib

SELLERS: Mitch and Juliannah "Juli" Richmond
LOCATION: Calabasas, CA
PRICE: $9,495,000
SIZE: 12,953 square feet, six bedrooms, 7 full and 2 half bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Not too long ago a trusted real estate canary named Benjamin Birdie chirped in Your Mama's ear that a huge Calabasas, CA mansion owned by retired professional basketball player Mitch Richmond was about to plop itself on the open market and, sure enough, yesterday it popped up with an asking price of $9,495,000.

Of course, everybody knows Your Mama doesn't know or care to know a thing about professional basketball so our reaction was, "Who dat?" However, hunties, our brief and unscientific research reveals that Mister Richmond was indeed a big damn deal during his 14 years with the NBA. He dribbled and passed for the Golden State Warriors, the Sacramento Kings, the Washington Wizards and, finally, for two pre-retirement seasons with the L.A. Lakers.

Before he went professional he played for the bronze medal winning U.S. team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul—that's in South Korea for all your geographically challenged sorts—and he was a member of the so-called Dream Team that won gold at the Olympic extravaganza in Atlanta in 1996. He's a former NBA Rookie of the Year, which certainly sounds impressive, and he's a five-time All-NBA Team member and a six-time NBA All-Star, both of which also certainly sound impressive. Mister Richmond currently scouts for the Oakland, CA-based Golden State Warriors.

For nearly two decades Mister Richmond has been united in matrimony with Juliannah "Juli" Richmond and together they have three children. Missus Richmond is probably best known to reality t.v. watchers as a cast member on the second season of the often tawdry and occasionally violent Basketball Wives program. Our research turned up a two-plus year old profile and interview with Missus Richmond that revealed she once launched a line of home furnishings and candles that "didn't pan out for her." She currently bills herself on her own website as an "Interior Design Consultant" through a business concern she calls Jexy by Juliannah.

Jexy, in case any of y'all might be interested, is defined on Missus Richmond's website as '"your vibe, whatever that may be. it's yours and that's what makes it so special. It's your uniqueness, demeanor, and swag. It's you! We are often defined by our exterior."' A little Googling around turns up evidence a small contingent of people use the word Jexy as slang for a sexy Jewish person too but that's really neither here nor there, is it? Anyhoo, in the aforementioned profile from early 2011 Missus Richmond stated her decorative aspirations as thus: '"I hope to bring my passion to decorating, bringing different vibes to a house."' She went on, '"I want to create a vibe. I try to create a vibe that is not a staged feel."'

We're not quite she if Missus Richmond was speaking of this house—the one in Calabasas that's just come up for sale—or if it was a previous residence she was referring to but she said about it in the profile, '"When you come into my house there is a vibe. There is a vibe. I bring a feeling. I just want to bring a vibe."'

Your Mama does not know and can not determine exactly what sort—ahem—vibe she aimed to bring to the day-core of her own home in Calabasas since listing photographs but since it's almost entirely in a spectrum of browns, beiges, ecrus and other earth tones with a spot of crimson here and there we'd say it might have something to do with earth tones, whatever that means. Anyways...

Property records show Mister and Missus Richmond purchased the 2.283 acre property in April 2004 for $1,700,000. Given that listing details show the existing residence was completed in 2006, Your Mama assumes the $1.7 million sale price was for the land alone. Of course, we don't have any idea how much the couple  paid to custom-build the proto-suburban behemoth but Your Mama thinks it's reasonable to assume they spent an equal amount and easily more.


The single story multi-winged mansion—let's call it a mock-Med Hacienda—sprawls across a flat ridge at the top of the Estates of the Oaks, an exclusive gated section of similarly sized and architecturally pastiched suburban macmansions within the vast, guard-gated and upscale community of The Oaks, about 30 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

Property records indicate the house spans 10,475 square feet but listing details put it at 12,953 square feet with six bedrooms and seven full and two half bathrooms. Home owner's dues are listed at $619 per month ($7,428 per year). We're not really sure what if any privileges besides community security services those fees pay for. Perhaps someone in the know about the rules, regs, covenants, restrictions and community bylaws of the Estates at the Oaks want to fill us in?

As is customary in 12,000 square foot suburban macmansions, the public spaces are meant to impress the guests. At the Richmond residence the impressing starts right at the front door that opens into a cavernous double height foyer that stretches clear through to the rear of the house where it opens to the backyard through a towering, 20-foot tall wall of windows. Eagle eyed children will see the lengthy and admittedly spacious enough foyer (somewhat oddly) does double duty as the formal dining room.

The adjoining formal living room is a much more cozy size but looks like the sort of room no one but Inez the cleaning lady is allowed to enter. There's also an office/library and a colossal center island kitchen with breakfast room and adjoining family room. The massive master suite has a sitting area with fireplace surmounted by an inset flat screen t.v. and a roomy bathroom where the marble (or onyx or whatever) surround around the oval soaking tub for two both juts out into the middle of the room and extends into the glassed in steam shower where it becomes a convenient in-shower bench.

Extra-added luxuries and amenities include: a sports bar hung with lots of framed jerseys; a game room with pool table; a state-of-the-art, 10-plus seat home theater done in various shades of beige; a wine cellar and a separate tasting room with a few feet of floor to ceiling faux stone veneer and a wall-wide forced perspective mural probably intended to make the room look larger than it really is but—to be honest—just makes Your Mama feel a little queasy with vertigo. There's also a meditation/yoga space, a children's homework room, a beauty salon and a home gym equipped with handfuls of body torture devices plus a steam room and sauna.

The back of the house wraps loosely around and opens up to a parking lot sized terrace and loggia with outdoor fireplace that extends the option for outdoor living into nippy mornings and chilly evenings. Other features according to listing details include a built-in fire pit and a crescent-shaped built-in barbecue situation larger and more expensively outfitted than most middle class peoples' kitchens.

Clearly a small fortune was spent on the palm tree-shaded swimming pool complex that's complete with a lagoon-style free-form pool with beach entry, a swim-up bar with built-in stool seating and a water slide that sweeps through a pile of rocks into which an elevated spa is nestled. A waterfall pours over the dark opening to a grotto.

The best vantage point for taking in the rugged and unobstructed canyon and mountain views that extend as far as the eye can see is the vast flat lawn that wraps around the back of the house and swimming pool complex. At the far side of the lengthy abode there is—no surprise—a full court basketball court.

Other notable features of the Mister and Missus Richmond's deluxely outfitted (if beigely dressed) residence include a five car garage, five fireplaces and a camera equipped security system. There's also a slew of high-profile neighbors. Britney Spears used rent a gigantic mansion now owned by David Broome, executive producer of The Biggest Loser, and last year testosterone-fueled gangsta-pop superstar Justin Bieber dumped $6.5 million of his riches on a 9,200+ square foot mansion in the 'hood where he's had nasty tangle or two with his neighbors. Talk show host Phil McGraw paid $6,575,000 in early 2011 for a nearly 11,000 square foot mansion occupied—so it's been reported—by his son Jay and his former Playboy Playmate wife Erica Dahm. Professional baseball player Jeff Suppan and his wife Dana also have a nearly 11,000 square foot mansion they picked up in 2010 for $6,250,000.

Still others who own homes in the exclusive enclave, at least according to property records and various other online resources, include rock and reality star Travis Barker (Blink 182), movie producer Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight franchise, the 300 franchise and The Hangover franchise), and professional footballer turned commentator Keyshawn Johnson who has his own nearly 11,000 square foot residence on the market right now for $8,895,000, reduced from its original January (2013) price tag of $10,500,000.

And, of course, everybody knows The Estates at The Oaks is where Michael Jackson's momma, Kathryn, moved into a roomy rental mansion in early 2011 with her trio of perplexingly named grandbabies Prince (Michael), Paris (-Michael) and Prince Michael (aka Blanket). Our understanding is that the Jackson Family Compound (JFC) was to endure a significant renovation and Miz Jackson and etc. decamped to Calabasas for the duration. To be completely honest, chickens, Your Mama isn't sure if the family remains in Calabasas or if they've already high-tailed back to the JFC. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?

listing photos: Re/Max Olson & Associates

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Case-Shiller Home Price Indices Post Highest Growth Rates Since 2006

Housing markets continue to improve according to the S&P Case Shiller Home Price Indices released April 30 for February's data.

The Indices consist of a 10-City Composite Index and a 20-City Composite Index with housing markets for each city reported based on a three-month rolling average of home prices.

Case Shiller Posts Highest Growth Rates Since 2006

The data released yesterday comprised the Indices' highest growth rates since May 2006.

For the 12 months between February 2012 and February 2013, the 10-City Composite Index reports that average home prices posted a gain of 8.6 percent and average home prices for the 20-City Composite Index grew by 9.3 percent on a non-seasonally adjusted basis. 

All 20 cities posted a year-over-year gain for at least two consecutive months.

The 10-City Composite Index grew by 0.4 percent between January and February, while the 20-City Composite Index grew by 0.3 percent for the same time period.

16 of the 20 cities reported rising annual growth rates for home sales between January and February 2013, while four cities including Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis and Phoenix saw decreases between -0.1 and -0.4 percent in annual home prices between January and February 2013 readings.

Longer-term readings provide a more positive light, as with the example for Phoenix, Arizona.

The month-to-month reading of annual home prices indicated a decrease, but the reading for Phoenix year over year indicates a + 23.0 percent increase in average home prices.

Ten Metro Areas Gain Double Digits Over Past Year

10 cities posted double-digit year-over-year growth rates; they include Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Tampa.

San Diego and Tampa have joined the double-digit cities in February with average home prices increasing for each city of just over 10 percent.

Phoenix, San Francisco, Las Vegas and Atlanta posted the highest year-over-year gains in average home prices.

Three older cities, New York, Boston and Chicago posted the lowest year-over-year rates in average home price readings.

Atlanta and Dallas achieved the highest annual growth rates since the inception of the 10-City Composite (1991) and the 20-City Composite (2001).

Improving Housing Markets Seen As Beacon Of Economic Recovery

Improving housing markets are considered a leading indicator of overall economic recovery as home ownership typically increases wealth and leads to more spending.

Economists note that while current news for housing markets is good, average home prices remain at 2003 levels, which can be very good for new home buyers.

Shortages of available homes in some areas and news that apartment construction is increasing can impact availability and ultimately, the sale of single-family homes.

 

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