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: < $283,954 (down 0.3%)
- Mid Tier: $283,954 – $452,006
- Hi Tier: > $452,006 (down 0.3%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through November 2014.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
For the third month in a row, only the high tier lost ground month-over-month, but this month the middle tier joined in the losses, while the low tier turned in another slight month-over-month gain.
Between October and November, the low tier decreased 0.4%, the middle tier fell 0.6%, 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 2014.
Year-over-year price growth shrank in the low and middle tier while holding steady in the high tier. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of November – Low: +7.6%, Med: +5.1%, Hi: +6.0%.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted earlier this week, but looking only at the Seattle tiers.
Current standing is 19.8% off peak for the low tier, 13.7% off peak for the middle tier, and 8.8% off peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 01.27.2014)