Hottest housing markets this decade

Hottest housing markets this decade
San Diego's median value rose 128% from 2000 to 2005: Census survey
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Median home values rose 32% from 2000 to 2005, but homes in San Diego fared a lot better than the national estimate, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Tuesday.

The median home value for San Diego homes, adjusted for inflation, rose 127% to $567,000 from $249,000, during the period. It was the largest increase among the country's biggest cities, according to the Bureau's American Community Survey. The survey covered 7,000 areas with a population of 65,000 or more.

Of the 15 largest cities surveyed, Los Angeles came in behind San Diego, with a median home-value increase of 110%, adjusted for inflation, followed by New York, with a rise of 79%.

Of the 15 smallest cities surveyed, Boynton Beach, Fla., reigned with a real median home-value increase of 120%, followed by Folsom, Calif., where the median home value rose 100%, and Redondo Beach, Calif., with a 92% gain.

Although the survey quantifies some of the home-value gains seen in recent years, the findings aren't especially surprising.

"Just about anyone who owns a home or has been in the market for one in the past few years knows first-hand how home values jumped from 2000 to 2005," said Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon in a news release.

Perspective on recent declines

But the data put recent headlines about home price declines into perspective, said Charles Jolly, president of the San Diego Association of Realtors and a Realtor for more than 30 years.

Real estate reports that focus on recent losses are "comparing everything to last year," Jolly said. He said he's seen his share of ups and downs in the market; the current state of affairs is just another part of a cycle.

He gave an example of a particular San Diego property that sold in 2000 for $345,000 and would have sold for $745,000 in 2005. Today, it would probably sell for less than $700,000, he said.
(when you find a buyer....)

Costs rise

The monthly cost of owning a home also rose during the first half of the decade, according to the survey. Homeowners' median monthly cost -- including mortgage payment and certain other costs, adjusted for inflation -- rose 5%, the survey found.

Among the largest cities, Detroit, Chicago and San Francisco experienced some of the greatest increases. The median monthly cost rose 24% in Detroit, 22% in Chicago and 20% in San Francisco.

Some smaller cities, such as Bryan, Texas, and Greenville, N.C., saw cost decreases of about 10%.

Rents on the rise

The median cost of renting a home also increased, jumping an inflation-adjusted 6.7% nationally between 2000 and 2005.

Large cities that experienced high jumps in the median cost of renting include San Diego, where costs rose 27%; Detroit, up 23%; and Los Angeles, up 16%.

Among the smallest cities surveyed, Redondo Beach, Calif., saw the median cost of renting increase 22%.

Real median rent cost decreased in some large cities, including San Jose, where rent costs fell 9%, and Dallas, where they dropped 3%.

Also, the survey found that more than two-thirds of the country's total occupied housing units were owner-occupied in 2005. That is, 74.3 million housing units were owner-occupied in 2005, up 4.5 million from 69.8 million owner-occupied units reported in the 2000 Census.

Largest 15 cities

Here's how home prices have fared, adjusted for inflation, in the biggest U.S. cities:

City	2000 home value	2005 home value	Percent change
New York	$250,746	$449,000	79%
Los Angeles	244,398	513,800	110%
Chicago	163,575	245,000	50%
Houston	87, 852	112,800	28%
Philadelphia	69,148	100,200	45%
Phoenix	121,292	184,300	52%
San Diego	249,386	566,700	127%
San Antonio, Texas	76,516	89,800	17%
Dallas	99,074	120,900	22%
San Jose, Calif.	425,657	625,400	47%
Detroit	71,188	88,300	24%
Jacksonville, Fla.	95,333	144,600	52%
Indianapolis	109,503	117,900	7.7%
San Francisco	479,161	726,700	52%
Columbus, Ohio	112,337	132,100	18%

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