For the first time in almost 13 years OFHEO's quarterly report, released November 29, showed a quarterly decline in average housing prices. Unlike other studies, the index tracks actual value shifts in existing houses whose mortgages are owned or included in securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac--and therefore is limited to conventional, conforming loans (that is, loans less than $417,000, though not necessarily properties that cost less than $417,000).
This is important because so many properties and mortgages in this area are far above the conforming loan limit, so I'd argue that this statistic is more relevant to first time home buyers and those renters who are considering venturing into the market as a measure of market pricing, rather than being an indicator of value for the "trade up" buyers who are more likely to be looking at detached homes. This report is slightly different from the widely quoted Case-Shiller index--you can read more about the differences here.
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria Percent Change in House Prices for Third Quarter of 2007
1 year: -0.33%
Qtr: -0.87%
5 year: 82.86%It's a lot to wade through, but you can view the full report here. (See page 46 for DC's MSA).
Edit> Surprised by such a small decline? Read more at my post: Evaluating the Accuracy of Predictions
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Yes, the Market is Down 7% AND Up 1%
Interest Rates Jump. Unfortunate, not Catastrophic.
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Katie - Although I have not checked the index, I am willing to bet that in my market this trend had already started a while ago.
I noticed you have visited my blog a few times and wanted to offer you a quick helpful tip. You should make sure you include your website in all your blogs posts. Everytime you add your website to a post you are creating an "inbound" link to your website. This helps your website come up higher in the search engine results over time. Another way to think of an inbound link is a "vote" for your website. Happy Holidays!
Thanks, Bill. I appreciate the tip!
As for the trend in your market, I assume you mean a decline? I was actually surprised that the DC area had such a minor (insignificant, even) drop -- so I was quite pleased with the stat, as it runs counter to almost everything we've been reading locally.
Katie - You are welcome :) Yes unfortunately I did mean a decline.