The S&P/Case Shiller® composite index (graph here (pdf file)) for the month of July was released yesterday.
"While the annual returns of the two indices continue to reach record lows, the pace of the decline has slowed, particularly over the last three months. For the three months of May thru July, home prices cumulatively fell about 2.2%; whereas for the three months of February thru April, and November 2007 thru January, the cumulative rates of decline were closer to 6.0-6.5%. 'There are signs of a slow down in the rate of decline across the metro areas, but no evidence of a bottom' says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s".
". . . Las Vegas remains the weakest market, reporting an annual decline of 29.9%, followed by Phoenix and Miami at -29.3% and -28.2%, respectively. Atlanta, Dallas, Minneapolis and Tampa showed improvements in their annual and monthly returns, but all four are still too close to their recent lows to determine if the markets have stabilized. While their annual returns are negative, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver and Minneapolis all reported positive returns for the three months or more."
5 comments:
Does this account for summer being the high selling point of the year?
So, since the Manassas median sale price was down 56.89% YOY in August, that means it was worse off than Las Vegas, Miami, and the other worst-hit metropolitan markets by a lot, right?
The median sold price is down to $141,500. According to MelissaData.com's historical sales information, that places Manassas below 2002/2001 prices.
This index is interesting but too general to be helpful for the detail that I would like.
There are people on this list far more informed than me when it comes to real estate but I'll share a semi-related observation on a small part of the market I pay a lot of attention to. I now think it's worth pointing this out.
I have been keeping track, just through personal observation and not in any way professionally, of the price of one-bedrooms but especially studios in NW between Foggy Bottom and including Adams Morgan. I am now seeing listing for studios, in nice buildings and on the better streets, selling at or south of 200K. That's significant to me.
I've seen studios that sell less than 200K in Adams Morgan and even Foggy Bottom but often they have serious issues: overlooking dumpsters and parking garages and in need of significant repair and on streets with issues, such as high incidence of muggings. But it's different now.
I am now seeing prices reach below 200K in some nice buildings, decent square footage, and near Metro. Most are still co-ops (which I've never been a fan of), but I think the condos will be there soon enough, if not already.
In short, I think a significant price decline is beginning to set in the low-end part of the DC market which has so far resisted this and successfully, in my view.
What I don't know is how much is hinged to the radical uncertainty -- and it is radical -- in the financial markets, with sellers looking to bail no matter what or the first wave of real and long lasting declines here.
kob, thanks that's a really interesting insight. And you should check out the co-ops, a co-worker of mine is very happy in his building in Adams Morgan, and it can be a positive thing to be in greater control over how the savings are managed and spent.
jim, no these are not seasonally adjusted, which is probably why a lessening of the rate of decline is not being considered a bottom, since these were the summer months that typically would have seen an increase even in a relatively flat market.
I appreciate the info - but, the yoy column is hidden browser (I have a good sized scree, and use firefox 2)
Could you publish these with less dead space in the columns in the future?
thanks mucho !!!
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