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: < $350,258 (up 2.0%)
- Mid Tier: $350,258 – $562,455
- Hi Tier: > $562,455 (up 2.4%)
First up is the straight graph of the index from January 2000 through April 2017.
Here’s a zoom-in, showing just the last year:
All three tiers have basically been skyrocketing month-over-month since January. Not a great sign for anyone hoping for a slowdown this year.
Between March and April, the low tier increased 2.3 percent, the middle tier rose 2.8 percent, and the high tier was up 2.5 percent.
Here’s a chart of the year-over-year change in the index from January 2003 through April 2017.
Year-over-year price growth in April hit a three-year high in the low and middle tiers, and the highest point since October 2006 in the high tier. Here’s where the tiers sit YOY as of April – Low: +13.5 percent, Med: +12.8 percent, Hi: +12.6 percent.
Lastly, here’s a decline-from-peak graph like the one posted earlier this week for the various Case-Shiller markets, but looking only at the Seattle tiers. All three tiers are now above their previous peak levels.
Current standing is 5.5 percent above the 2007 peak for the low tier, 12.8 percent above the 2007 peak for the middle tier, and 19.5 percent above the 2007 peak for the high tier.
(Home Price Indices, Standard & Poor’s, 2017-06-27)