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: < $278,206 (up 1.7%)
- Mid Tier: $278,206 – $444,848
- Hi Tier: > $444,848 (up 1.5%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through June 2013.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
All three tiers posted gains again in June, with the low tier once again gaining the most ground in the month. The low tier was also the only tier to show an increased month-over-month gain compared to last month. Between May and June, the low tier rose 3.5%, the middle tier was up 1.8%, and the high tier gained 1.6%.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through June 2013.
The low tier was also the biggest gainer in year-over-year growth from a year ago and the only tier that saw growth increase. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of June – Low: +18.8%, Med: +14.6%, Hi: +10.8%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Current standing is 30.5% off peak for the low tier, 20.4% off peak for the middle tier, and 15.2% off peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 08.27.2013)