Albany Home Values Slip Further in 2010 as Prices Continue a Four-Year Decline

Albany home values fell again in 2010, and the number of homes sold hovered at its second lowest rate in five years.

The median sales price of single-family residences sold last year in Albany declined to $595,000, a 3 percent drop from 2009, according to a home values report compiled by .

Of the areas covered in the report, Albany was one of just three, along with El Cerrito and Richmond, where the percentage change in median sales price stuck stubbornly in the red.

The median sales price also declined by 3 percent in El Cerrito in the same time period, to $520,000.

Previously falling values in Kensington, the Richmond Annex and Berkeley showed a slight rebound in 2010. (See the accompanying graph and table for details.)

The number of homes sold indicated a resurgent market in many areas, but not in Albany, where 9 percent fewer homes were sold last year than in 2009.

Sales volume increased in El Cerrito (9 percent), Kensington (14 percent), Richmond Annex (5 percent) and Berkeley (10 percent) in 2010, according to the Marvin Gardens report, published in the online version of the firm's winter newsletter.

Home prices and the number of homes sold in the five areas remained substantially below 2006 levels, when the nation's housing bubble was at its peak.

Albany's median sales price has fallen 12 percent since 2006. A total of 78 homes were sold in Albany last year, down 9 percent from 2009, and 26 percent from the 106 homes sold in 2006.

Albany home values have fallen about 3 percent annually for the past two years, an improvement over the drop from 2007 to 2008, when they fell about 6 percent.

Since 2006, Albany property values have been less affected than those for homes in Richmond, Montclair and El Cerrito. Home values in Rockridge, Piedmont and Berkeley have fared minimally better, according to the report.

"Our overall assessment is that the East Bay market has stabilized," the Marvin Gardens report concluded. "As the spring market approaches against a background of increasing interest rates and pent-up buyer demand, we are optimistic that 2011 will continue to show modest strength."