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Home Price Changes Vary Among Top 20 Markets
Home appreciation rates vary significantly among the nation’s top markets, according to the latest monthly S&P/Case-Shiller home price statistics tracking the 20 largest metro areas in the U.S.
“We need to put these numbers in proper historical context by analyzing them over the long term, rather than in one-year increments,” said NAHB President Brian Catalde. “These statistics also reaffirm that all housing markets are local, and conditions in them are dictated by the local economy and job market.”
Among the top 20 markets surveyed by S&P/Case-Shiller, which represent more than 40% of the U.S. population, five showed positive home price appreciation rates over the past year, seven posted declines of less than 5% and eight registered losses of between 5% and 10%.
With the exception of Detroit, which has suffered significant job losses in manufacturing during the past several years, markets that posted the largest average decline in home prices during the past year — Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Diego, Tampa and Washington, D.C. — have seen their home prices appreciate by more than 100% since January 2000.
“It makes sense that the most super-heated housing markets in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida are now experiencing the most serious market corrections,” said Catalde. “Though housing is a cyclical business, experience shows that over time, home prices will stabilize and then move upward with the next recovery.”
While the home price statistics for the 20 metro areas showed a 4.9% year-over-year decline, those same markets have appreciated in value by more than 95% since January 2000.
On a national level, home prices fell 4.5% between September 2006 and September 2007. However, since January of 2000, home prices have increased by more than 80%, indicating that housing remains a solid long-term investment.
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