real estate

Possible ‘double dip’ in home values?

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And now in more (not so) good news on the economic front, Zillow is suggesting that there may be a looming “double-dip” in home values.

At least from Seattle’s perspective, we’re not listed as one of most likely candidates for another drop in value, but data from Zillow’s Home Value Index indicates if you bought anytime in the last few years, your home is probably worth less than when you bought it.

Here’s a chart showing the change in values over the last five years.

Zillow Home Value Index
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According to Zillow, here are some toplevel findings:

  • Decreasing Home Values: Home values changed -5.8% to a Zillow Home Value Index of $300,400. Values also fell in the short-term, changing -0.5% from November to December. The Zillow Home Value Index measures the value of all homes, not just those that sold in a particular period.
  • Homes with Negative equity: 22 percent of all owners of single-family homes with mortgages were underwater at the end of Q4.
  • Foreclosure re-sales: 19.5 percent of all sales in December were foreclosure re-sales (REO sales). Nationally, foreclosure re-sales made up 20.3 percent of all sales.
  • Homes sold for a loss: 18.5% of all homes sold in December sold for a loss.

I’m not a real estate analyst, so I’ll point to the SeattlePI for more information.