Not that I am a proponent of using past appreciation to determine future performance, but if you are going to use appreciation as a barometer of the housing the two things you want to know are what was the year over year change, and is the trend improving or declining. And it is with that understanding of past appreciation that the current market trend is alarming.
According to the NAR, here is what the year over year percentage change in the median home value has looked like over the past several months:
Jun 2008: -6.1%
Jul 2008: -7.1%
Aug 2008: -9.5%
Sep 2008: -9.0%
Oct 2008: -11.3%
Nov 2008: -13.2%
Dec 2008: -15.3%
Jan 2009: -14.8%
Feb 2009: -15.5%
Additionally, Case-Shiller announced today that home values, as they measure them, declined by -19% from last year, the highest on record. The broader housing market is moving further away from a bottom than towards one.
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