Estimated home values dropped in 44 of 66 metro-area markets reported by home valuation and marketing company Zillow in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year.
Zillow reported today that its national Zindex — calculated as the median of all of the company’s home-value estimates across the country — dropped 2.8 percent to $251,588 between the second quarter of 2006 and the second quarter of 2007. The Zindex report includes all homes tracked by Zillow, whether or not they are for sale. The national Zindex improved 0.1 percent in the second quarter compared to first-quarter 2007.
The metro areas tracked by Zillow with the highest home-value appreciation in the second quarter compared to the same quarter last year are: Grand Junction, Colo., 18.6 percent; Corvallis, Ore., 11.2 percent; Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, N.C.-S.C., 9 percent; Eugene-Springfield, Ore., 6.9 percent; Spokane, Wash., 6.1 percent; and Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Wash., at 5.3 percent.
The most-depreciating metro areas during that period are: Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., down 16.4 percent; Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay, Fla., down 14.3 percent; Stockton-Lodi, Calif., down 13.5 percent; Charleston-North Charleston, S.C., down 12.8 percent; Daytona Beach, Fla., down 12.5 percent; and Modesto, Calif., down 12.4 percent.
The most pricey areas in the second-quarter Zindex report are: San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif., $685,653; Honolulu, Hawaii, $632,270; San Luis Obispo-Atascadero-Paso Robles, Calif., $537,722; Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Calif., $525,175; San Diego, Calif., $505,334; and New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J., at $445,435.
The least expensive metro areas in the second-quarter Zindex report are: Jackson, Tenn., $91,563; Greenville-Spartanburg-Anderson, S.C., $101,178; Tulsa, Okla., $102,876; Dayton-Springfield, Ohio, $108,121; Rockford, Ill., $116,475; and Columbia, S.C., at $116,865.
Zillow reported that “differences in value become very evident” when studying home value by size of the home.
“Home buyers who ‘moved up’ in the recent past may find their new investment has ‘moved down’ over the past year, while neighbors in cozy cottages have held onto their value better in the face of a nationwide decline,” Zillow reported. “Similarly, condo owners experienced a sharp decline in home values in (the second quarter).”
Mid-sized and large homes, including the U.S. average 1,500-square-foot residence, had the steepest value-estimate declines among single-family residences, with value drops of 3.1 percent for mid-sized homes and 2.8 percent for large homes year-over-year for the second quarter.
The estimated value of small homes, meanwhile, dropped about 1 percent during that period. Large homes are defined as those that are 1,900 square feet or more; small homes are defined as those less than 1,200 square feet; and mid-sized homes are between these ranges.
Estimated condo values dropped 5.2 percent year-over-year, Zillow reported, with a Zindex home-value indicator of $238,721, and condos in parts of Florida and California’s Central Valley region had estimated value drops between 10-14 percent in the second quarter of this year compared to the same quarter last year.
“The U.S. real estate market still appears quite anemic, at best, with many markets still doing poorly, especially those in South Florida and Southern California,” stated Stan Humphries, Zillow’s vice president of data and analytics. “The one ray of hope this period is that we’ve not seen another quarter-over-quarter decline as we’ve experienced for the past two quarters. The significantly poorer performance of condos and larger single-family homes suggests that prices for these housing sectors are still not in accord with current demand.”
Zillow’s metro-area data can be viewed at online at http://www.zillow.com/quarterlies/QuarterlyReports.htm.
