FAIRMONT — The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight reported that home prices in the country dropped during the first quarter of this year, but that wasn’t the case in West Virginia.
The OFHEO’s seasonally adjusted purchase-only house price index, which uses statistics from home sales, decreased 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008. Between the first quarters of 2007 and 2008, home prices went down 3.1 percent.
Forty-three states experienced a decline in home prices, the OFHEO stated. However, West Virginia saw a 2.47 percent price increase when comparing the first quarters of 2007 and 2008.
Ray Joseph, CEO of the West Virginia Association of Realtors, said the housing market in the state still looks like it has all year.
“It’s strong, steady, stable,” he said. “It’s not exploding but not on a decline either. West Virginia’s always just a good stable market.”
The average sale price, which is now about $117,000, is up a little bit from last year. Compared to the second quarter of 2007, West Virginia has seen an increase of about $6,000 for this year’s second quarter, Joseph said. The state is seeing 2 to 3 percent appreciation in the average sale price, and this solid increase is a good thing, he said.
“Basically the market is stabilizing even more,” he said. “We’ve never had this giant boom (that other places had). We’re still moving up slow, steady.”
Joseph said West Virginia has a lot of inventory available, which creates a buyer’s market. However, homes are staying on the market a little longer than in the past. In 2008, houses in the state have been on the market an average of 138 days, compared to 130 days last year.
“Fairmont stays pretty much in the patterns of the whole state — small but solid increase,” he said. “It’s still not a bad market in West Virginia, and it never has been. Obviously we’d like to see them sell quicker.”
With West Virginia’s strong inventory and pretty attractive interest rates, it’s a great time for people to invest in property here, Joseph said.
In January 2008, Charleston was one of the top three markets in the country, he said. The Eastern Panhandle, a traditionally strong market, is experiencing a declining housing market right now, but Joseph expects that area to soon stabilize.
He said West Virginia’s housing market is growing some, and he anticipates that this trend will continue. While many places across the nation are having a lot of foreclosures, West Virginia hasn’t had that problem.
“Overall I would say that West Virginia remains probably one of the better housing markets in the country,” Joseph said.
Picket Fences Realty in Fairmont is selling properties, and the housing market in the city and Marion County seems very good, broker Carol Oliver said.
“I think it’s better than you hear in a lot of the nation,” she said.
In the 30 years that Oliver has been working in real estate, she has noticed the value of properties going up and down and leveling off. She said this activity is normal and the market adjusts itself.
Oliver said the future looks “excellent” for the area’s housing market.
“I think a lot of things seem to be happening right here,” she said. “We get a lot of inquiries from people outside of the area, and I think it’s really good.”
“As long as people are living in houses ... there’s going to be buying and selling.”
Diane Floyd, broker and owner of Floyd Real Estate Inc. in Fairmont, she said the area’s housing market is steady.
“I think the future looks bright for the housing market because I think there’s jobs,” she said. “There’s still lots of things going on.”
More houses are on the market and prices are up. However, homes aren’t selling as quickly, she said.
According to the Multiple Listing Service, the average price for all Marion County properties sold — which includes multi-units, single-family homes and land — is currently $109,000, Floyd said. For single-family homes alone, the average price is $116,000.
The year 2007 saw an average price of $104,000 for all properties and $111,000 for single-family homes.
The average time on the market for all properties in Marion County is 135 days, an increase from last year’s average of 118 days. For 2008, single-family homes are spending an average of 116 days on the market, compared to 103 last year.
Floyd said Marion County has some foreclosures, but not a lot. Also, the county didn’t overbuild and the prices weren’t overly inflated like in some places.
“I don’t think that it’s as bad as what we hear on the nationwide news,” Floyd said. “You can’t listen to the nationwide news because it’s not what’s happening in Fairmont, W.Va.”
E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.
In Today's TWV
July 24, 2008
Home prices register increase in W.Va.
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