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: < $235,142 (down 1.3%)
- Mid Tier: $235,142 – $380,225
- Hi Tier: > $380,225 (down 1.3%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through November 2011.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
All three tiers continued to fall in November, with the low tier taking the biggest hit. The low tier fell 2.3% MOM, the middle tier dropped 1.8%, and the high tier lost 0.4%.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through November 2011.
The high and low tiers seem to be diverging fairly sharply here over the last few months, with the high tier improving one point while the low tier lost a point. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of November – Low: -13.7%, Med: -9.3%, Hi: -3.7%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Current standing is 41.4% off peak for the low tier, 34.4% off peak for the middle tier, and 27.2% off peak for the high tier. The middle tier joined the low tier in setting a new post-peak low point in November.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 01.31.2012)