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: < $285,639 (down 0.5%)
- Mid Tier: $285,639 – $449,220
- Hi Tier: > $451,875 (down 0.6%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through November 2013.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
Only the high tier actually fell month-over-month in November. Between October and November, the low tier rose 0.4%, the middle tier was flat, and the high tier lost 0.2%.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through November 2013.
Year-over-year changes were still just barely double-digits for all three tiers in November, but all three tiers saw smaller gains in November than they did in October. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of November – Low: +21.0%, Med: +14.4%, Hi: +10.3%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted yesterday, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Current standing is 25.5% off peak for the low tier, 17.9% off peak for the middle tier, and 14.0% off peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 01.28.2014)