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: < $283,457 (down 0.2%)
- Mid Tier: $283,457 – $450,845
- Hi Tier: > $450,845 (down 0.3%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through December 2014.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
The high tier has lost ground month-over-month for five months in a row, but the low and middle tiers have been more mixed.
Between November and December, the low tier decreased 0.2%, 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 December 2014.
Year-over-year price growth increased in all three tiers. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of December – Low: +8.9%, Med: +5.2%, Hi: +6.4%.
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 19.7% off peak for the low tier, 13.8% off peak for the middle tier, and 9.0% off peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 02.24.2015)