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: < $258,537 (up 1.1%)
- Mid Tier: $258,537 – $394,993
- Hi Tier: > $394,993 (up 1.4%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through April 2010.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
After taking a much larger hit than the other two tiers between December and March, the low tier shot back up a bit in April. I’m not sure what was driving the early-year dip, but my guess is that April through June will see a spike in the low tier thanks to the expiring tax credit.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through April 2010.
All three tiers fell less YOY than a month ago. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of April – Low: -3.7%, Med: -2.7%, Hi: -2.7%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Even after April’s big spike, the low tier has still fallen far further from the peak than the other two tiers, coming in for April at 28.3% off the peak vs. the middle tier’s 24.1% off and the high tier’s 23.7% fall.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 06.29.2010)