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Wednesday, October 11, 2000 Compare home costs in various markets Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation has released its 2000 Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) which indicates that there is a $870,597 price difference between the most expensive market, Palo Alto, CA ($974,237), and the most affordable market, Mt. Pleasant, MI. ($103,640). According to the study, a 2,200 square foot home in the Atlanta area, the most expensive market in Georgia, costs $237,375, as compared to $134,438 for a similar sized home in Dalton, the HPCI's most affordable market in the state. The HPCI study evaluates and indexes the average sales price of similar homes in typical middle management transferee neighborhoods in more than 300 markets across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.The full study can be found on www.coldwellbanker.com, or by contacting your local Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty office. Using the HPCI's indexing formula, consumers can calculate what their own home could be worth in another city. The HPCI thus provides preliminary guidance for the affordability of housing within a market to aid a transferee's decision process. An online HPCI calculator function can be found at www.coldwellbanker.com which provides the possible home values automatically. The Home Price Comparison Index is also available in a brochure format through Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty. In the past few years, a hot job market, strong economy and the impact of technology have encouraged people considering relocating to another market.Many factors such as differing salary, cost of living, taxes and housing prices affect what the same dollar can buy in different parts of the country. This year's HPCI reveals that eight of the country's 10 most expensive markets are in California and seven of the ten most affordable are within the Midwest. According to the HPCI, the Western region of the United States has the highest cumulative average price for the subject home ($313,733), followed by the Northeast ($272,716), the Midwest ($181,984), and the Southeast ($176,640). The average price of all homes surveyed, nationally, is $244,600 and the American cities/areas that came closest to the cumulative HPCI markets' national average sales price are Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Fossmoor, IL; and Anne Arundel County, MD. Utah has the least variance ($2,438) between the most affordable (Salt Lake City: $163,362) and most expensive (Provo: $165,800) markets and California has the greatest ($802,500) between Bakersfield ($171,737) and Palo Alto ($974,237). Regionally, the most expensive market is Miami at $273,626, and the most affordable market is Chattanooga at $132,000. The methodology used to compile the data included the surveying of hundreds of Coldwell Banker offices throughout the HPCI's corresponding U.S. and Canadian markets, including Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty. The "subject home" that the HPCI was based on included the following criteria: a 2,200 square foot, single-family dwelling with four bedrooms, two and one-half baths, a family room and a two-car garage in a typical, middle management transferee neighborhood. (The figure of 2,220 square feet was the baseline figure used as size criteria for the HPCI subject homes. However, it is possible that in certain markets, the size of the subject homes varied.) What would a house in the Atlanta area cost in California's Hollywood Hills? The HPCI's standard statistics indexing formula provides an answer: multiply the market value of your current home of the index number of the destination city where you plan to move Then, divide that number by the index number of the Atlanta area. For example, if your home costs $150,000, multiply by the HPCI index number for Hollywood Hills, which is 271. Take that number and divide by 87, the index number for the Atlanta area. Therefore, if you live in a $150,000 house in the Atlanta area, the HPCI value of your home would be approximately $467,000 in the Hollywood Hills, CA, area. Index numbers can be found in the HPCI brochure. "Only a few decades ago mortgage burning parties were commonplace signifying the end of a homeowner's 30-year commitment but in today's migratory society families generally live in a home for about only four to seven years before moving on," said Steve Bullard, owner and president of Coldwell Banker Bullard Realty. "With corporate relocation consistent, and technology making the world smaller, people can also expect to call different areas of the global village home at one time or another.Therefore, it is very important to understand the home prices within an area before accepting a job or committing to live there."
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