Prices Dropped Most Everywhere Except California

Prices Dropped!

Now let's dig into the data! As we expected, the Case-Shiller index of real estate prices published data about March home prices showing a decline across all of our markets except for Seattle, Boston and most of California.

Location                  Month over        Change
                              Month Change   from Max

Phoenix Area                 -0.5%            -51.8%   
LA Area                        -0.7%            -37.7% 
San Diego Area               1.5%            -36.0%   
Bay Area                         1.5%            -37.4%
DC Area                        -0.7%            -30.2%
Atlanta Area                   -1.8%            -24.0%
Chicago Area                 -2.3%            -29.0%
Boston Area                     0.0%            -17.0%
New York Area              -0.7%            -21.5%
Portland Area                 -0.1%            -23.0%
Seattle Area                     0.1%            -25.3%
20 City  Index                 -0.5%            -30.6%

The U.S. market has now lost seven years of appreciation, with homes selling for the same prices as in July 2003. The eye-popper here is that the Phoenix market has lost 52% of its value from the peak, and still builders are finding new aquifers and paving new developments. Crazy. Nation-wide, housing starts for single-family homes increased 10.2% in April, so many developers now believe prices have stabilized.