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Clear Capital recently released its Home Data Index Market Report, which found the best deals in the housing market now reside in the middle-tier of available homes. The group found that following more than two years of recovery, low-tier homes are no longer the best value for homebuyers.
Mid-tier homes are homes selling between $95,000 and $310,000, nationally.
The company reported that low-tier homes experienced 32.3 percent growth from the trough in 2011. Mid-tier homes are still 30.6 percent off of peak values, while the low-tier price sectors remained just 21.5 percent below peak values. Top-tier homes, on average, are just 18.2 percent off of peak values.
"Very interesting dynamics are at play as we head into spring. Though our April data suggests the spring buying season is off to a slow start, we aren't concerned about the sustainability of the recovery," said Dr. Alex Villacorta, VP of research and analytics at Clear Capital.
Villacorta continued, "To be clear, there are lots of adjustments taking place in housing markets across the country. Everything from lender regulation, consumer confidence, investors tapering purchases, local economics, and rising home prices have forced participants to continually adjust to a market that has been anything but stable."
The company found that quarterly rates of growth for the nation and three of four regions remain virtually unchanged.
Nationally, housing markets experienced a 0.9 percent growth quarter-over-quarter. The largest gains were in the West, which experienced a 1.8 percent increase from the previous quarters. The South was next at 0.8 percent growth, followed closely by the Midwest (0.7 percent) and the Northeast (0.6 percent).
"Generally speaking, we see price growth stabilizing throughout 2014, which should help boost the confidence and purchase activity from buyers on the fence," Villacorta said.
Villacorta continued, "The days of double digit price gains are behind us, and the market will continue to calibrate to the new reality of annual growth rates between 3% and 5%. A strong spring buying season might be a casualty of the major adjustments underway, but it's no reason to ring the alarm bells quite yet."
