Let’s check out the three price tiers for the Seattle area, as measured by Case-Shiller. Remember, Case-Shiller’s “Seattle” data is based on single-family home repeat sales in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
Note that the tiers are determined by sale volume. In other words, 1/3 of all sales fall into each tier. For more details on the tier methodologies, hit the full methodology pdf. Here are the current tier breakpoints:
- Low Tier: < $260,163 (down 2.3%)
- Mid Tier: $260,163 – $391,424
- Hi Tier: > $391,424 (down 1.7%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through January 2010.
The low tier fell a rather large 2.3% month-to-month, while the middle and high tier fell 1.5% and 1.6% respectively. All three tiers are now at a new post-peak low. The low tier has “rewound” to February 2005, the middle tier to April 2005, and the high tier to March 2005.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through December 2009.
The year-over-year situation is still improving slightly in all three tiers. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of January – Low: -6.1%, Med: -6.3%, Hi: -5.8%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
…and the low tier jumps back out into a commanding lead on the race to the real bottom.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 03.30.2010)