13 Million U.S. Households Not Yet Ready for Digital Television Conversion
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire-USNewswire), February 17, 2008 - More than 13 million households with television sets that can only receive analog broadcasts are currently unprepared for the transition to all digital broadcasting that is scheduled for February 18, 2009, according to the Nielsen Company. Another 6 million households have at least one television set that would no longer work after that date.
Later today, at Nielsen's Annual Client Meeting on Audience Measurement in Las Vegas, the company will provide new details on the readiness of U.S. households for the impending shut-off of analog broadcasting, including breakdowns by age, race, ethnicity, and geography. These details provide greater understanding of who is most likely to be affected by the government mandated action, which will leave viewers without a television signal unless they purchase digital television sets, subscribe to cable or satellite, or purchase a converter box.
"The change to all-digital broadcasting is the most significant change in the history of television, because unlike other advances such as color, older television sets will no longer be able to receive television signals without a converter," explained Eric Rossi, Senior Manager, Product Leadership and leader of Nielsen's digital transition preparedness team. "Over the past 18 months we have been reviewing every aspect of the digital transition to measure the impact and help clients understand where things stand as we all prepare for the challenges."
Nielsen found that adults over 55 are better prepared than younger households; and Whites and Asians are more ready than Blacks (see Table 1 below). More Hispanic households still rely on analog, over-the-air broadcast television than non-Hispanics.
These estimates are based on the same national and local television ratings samples that are used to generate Nielsen television ratings. These samples are representative of the total U.S. population and individual local markets.
Among the key findings reported:
- 10.1% of all households would have no access to television signals if the transition occurred today.
- 16.8% of all households have at least one analog television set that would not work after the switch.
- New York is the most ready local television market, with just 3.5% "unready" television sets.
- Portland, OR is the least prepared local market, with 22.4% of all households using only analog sets and over-the-air television.
Metro Areas Show Greatly Mixed Home Price Performance
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), February 17, 2008 - Roughly half of metropolitan areas continued to show rising home prices in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to the latest quarterly survey by the National Association of Realtors(R).
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said disruptions in the mortgage market have played a role. "The continuing crunch in the jumbo loan market that began in August has disproportionately reduced the number of transactions in higher price ranges," he said. "For buyers who need loans of more than $417,000, mortgage interest rates have been running more than a percentage point higher, and that has been having an obvious impact. Higher ratios of sales for more moderately priced homes are naturally dampening the national median price as well as the data for some of the more expensive markets."
The disruption in higher priced sales continues to drag down the aggregate national median existing single-family home price, which was $206,200 in the fourth quarter, down 5.8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 when the median price was $219,000. The national median normally is a typical market price, where half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.
Despite the annual decline in the fourth quarter median home price, the typical seller who purchased their home six years ago still saw a very healthy gain. The median increase in value for sellers who purchased that home in the fourth quarter of 2001 is 31.2 percent, and the median home equity accumulation is $49,000.
In the fourth quarter, the largest single-family home price increase was the Cumberland area of Maryland and West Virginia, where the median price of $116,600 rose 19.0 percent from a year ago. Next was Yakima, Wash., at $170,600, up 18.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, followed by the Binghamton, N.Y., area, where the fourth quarter median price increased 14.8 percent to $110,000.
"The healthiest housing markets today generally are moderately priced and are experiencing job growth and often population growth, which in turn is supporting strong price growth," Yun said. "Most of the weakest markets have either experienced both job and population losses, or they are experiencing corrections following a prolonged period of rapid price growth."
Median fourth-quarter metro area single-family home prices ranged from a very affordable $72,600 in the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman area of Ohio and Pennsylvania, to nearly 12 times that amount in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California, where the median price was $845,300. The second most expensive area was San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, at $777,300, followed by the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area (Orange County, Calif.), at $657,400.
Other affordable markets include the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North area of Michigan, with a fourth-quarter median price of $74,900, and Decatur, Ill., at $75,000.
In the condo sector, metro area condominium and cooperative prices -- covering changes in 59 metro areas -- show the national median existing-condo price was $221,100 in the fourth quarter, essentially unchanged from $221,200 in the fourth quarter of 2006. Thirty-three metros showed annual increases in the median condo price, including four areas with double-digit gains; 26 areas had price declines including four with double-digit drops.
The strongest condo price increases were in Bismarck, N.D., where the fourth quarter price of $125,000 rose 20.8 percent from a year earlier, followed by the New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner area of Louisiana, at $173,300, up 17.8 percent, and Knoxville, Tenn., where the median condo price of $160,800 rose 10.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006.
Metro area median existing-condo prices in the fourth quarter ranged from $109,900 in Wichita, Kan., to $595,700 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area. The second most expensive condo market reported was Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, at $363,100, followed by the San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos area at $327,000.
Other affordable condo markets include both Indianapolis and Greensboro-High Point, N.C., at $116,700 in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor area of Ohio at $120,000.
Total state existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate(2) of 4.96 million units in the fourth quarter, down 8.5 percent from 5.42 million in the third quarter, and are 20.9 percent below a 6.26 million-unit pace in the fourth quarter of 2006. "With prior reports of national home sales declines, it is not surprising to see 14 states with declines in excess of 20 percent from a year ago," Yun noted.
According to Freddie Mac, the national average commitment rate on a 30-year conventional fixed-rate mortgage fell to 6.23 percent in the fourth quarter from 6.55 percent in the third quarter; the rate was 6.25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006. In recent weeks, Freddie Mac has been reporting the 30-year fixed rate to be under 5.7 percent.
Regionally, the median existing single-family home price in the Midwest declined 3.2 percent to $156,300 in the fourth quarter from the same period in 2006. The strongest metro price increase in the Midwest was in the Springfield, Ill., area, where the median price of $108,600 was 14.4 percent higher than a year ago. Next was Bismarck, N.D., at $144,700, up 13.5 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006, and Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa, at $115,400, up 12.1 percent.
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