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: < $258,908 (up 2.5%)
- Mid Tier: $258,908 – $415,069
- Hi Tier: > $415,069 (up 2.8%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through March 2013.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
All three tiers shot up in March, with the middle tier gaining the most. Between February and March, the low tier rose 2.0%, the middle tier was up 3.5%, and the high tier gained 2.5%.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through March 2013.
The low tier had a whopping 3.4-point boost in its year-over-year growth between February and March. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of March – Low: +13.4%, Med: +12.0%, Hi: +10.0%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Current standing is 36.7% off peak for the low tier, 26.7% off peak for the middle tier, and 20.6% off peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 05.28.2013)