Trulia Classifies Housing Markets In San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, Denver, And Salt Lake City As “Booming”

Trulia (NYSE: TRLA) today released the latest findings from the  Trulia Price Monitor and the  Trulia Rent Monitor, the earliest leading indicators available of trends in  home prices and rents. Based on the for-sale homes and rentals listed on Trulia, these monitors take into account changes in the mix of listed homes and reflect trends in prices and rents for similar homes in similar neighborhoods through January 31, 2013.

Rising Asking Prices Signal Strong Price Recovery

Indicating the strength of the home price recovery, asking prices rose 0.3 percent quarter-over-quarter (Q-o-Q) in January without seasonal adjustment—despite the fact that prices typically fall during the wintertime. Seasonally adjusted, prices rose 2.2 percent Q-o-Q. Moreover, prices rose 0.9 percent month-over-month (M-o-M), the highest monthly gain since the price recovery began. Year-over-year (Y-o-Y), prices rose 5.9 percent; excluding foreclosures, prices rose 6.5 percent.

January 2013 Trulia Price Monitor Summary
		% change inasking prices		# of 100 largestmetros with asking-price increases		% change in askingprices, excluding foreclosures
Month-over-month,seasonally adjusted		0.9%		Not reported		1.2%
Quarter-over-quarter,seasonally adjusted		2.2%		79		2.9%
Year-over-year		5.9%		86		6.5%

Booming Housing Markets Have Both Price Gains and Healthy Fundamentals

Healthy housing markets are defined by strong job growth, low vacancy rates, and low foreclosure inventory. In “booming” markets such as San Francisco and Seattle, rising asking prices are supported by strong job growth and are unthreatened by future foreclosures. However, investor-fueled price increases in “rebounding” markets like Phoenix and Las Vegas are at risk from slow job growth, high vacancies, or future foreclosures. At the other end of the spectrum, healthy markets without dramatic price gains, such as Houston, will continue to hum along after avoiding the worst of the housing bubble and bust. Meanwhile, markets like Chicago continue to struggle without strong market fundamentals or big price gains.

BOOMING Big price increases and healthier market fundamentals.		San Francisco Seattle Denver San Jose Salt Lake City
HUMMING Stronger market fundamentals without dramatic price gains.		Houston Boston Raleigh Dallas
REBOUNDING Big price increases, but weaker market fundamentals.		Phoenix Las Vegas Riverside-San Bernardino Detroit
STRUGGLING Neither strong market fundamentals nor big price gains.		Newark Chicago Albuquerque

New Construction Eases Rent Gains Nationally

With more newly-constructed multi-unit buildings coming to completion, rent gains fell behind asking price increases at the national level for the first time since the price recovery began last spring. In January, rents rose 4.1 percent Y-o-Y nationally, slowing down from 4.7 percent in July 2012. Regionally, rent gains cooled the most in San Francisco, where rents rose only 2.4 percent versus 11.5 percent in July 2012. According to the Census, construction activity in San Francisco has been well above normal for the last year, and it’s nearly all in multi-unit buildings.

Where Rent Gains Slowed Down Most
#		U.S. Metro		% Change in Rents, Y-o-Y, Jan 2013		% Change in Rents, Y-o-Y, July 2012		Percentage Point Difference
1		San Francisco, CA		2.4%		11.5%		-9.1%
2		Portland, OR-WA		4.7%		9.2%		-4.4%
3		Seattle, WA		6.4%		10.8%		-4.4%
4		Denver, CO		7.4%		10.3%		-2.9%
5		San Diego, CA		2.0%		4.4%		-2.4%

NOTE: Among largest 25 rental markets. All figures are rounded, and differences (rightmost column) were calculated before rounding, so some differences shown may not equal the difference of the rounded values.

PRE-APPROVED QUOTES

• “In many local markets today, dramatic price gains can mask serious red flags,” says Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Strong job growth, low vacancy rate, and low foreclosure inventory–not huge price gains–are signs of a healthy housing market. Without strong underlying market fundamentals, price rebounds might be here today, but gone tomorrow.”
• “Rent gains are slowing down because of more supply, not less demand,” explains Jed Kolko, Trulia’s Chief Economist. “Many of the multi-unit buildings that have been under construction over the past two years are now coming onto the market. Renters in San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver are starting to get a touch of relief, even though rising prices might put homeownership out of their reach.”

MULTIMEDIA

• To read the full report, see  here.
• To download the full list of price and rent changes for the largest metro areas, see  here.
• To download a graph of price changes from January 2011 to January 2013, see  here.
• To download a scatter plot graph contrasting price trends with the market's health for the 100 largest metros, see here.

METHODOLOGY

To view the full methodology and 2013 release schedule, see  here. The next release of the Trulia Price Monitor and the Trulia Rent Monitor will be Tuesday, March 5, at 10 AM ET.

ABOUT TRULIA, INC.

Trulia (NYSE: TRLA) gives home buyers, sellers, owners, and renters the inside scoop  on properties, places, and real estate professionals. Trulia has unique info on the areas people want to live that can't be found anywhere else: users can learn about agents, neighborhoods, schools,  crime, commute times, and even ask the  local community questions. Real estate professionals use Trulia to connect with millions of transaction-ready buyers and sellers each month via our hyper local advertising services, social recommendations, and top-rated  mobile real estate apps. Trulia is headquartered in downtown San Francisco. Trulia is a registered trademark of Trulia, Inc.

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