In Most Areas, Home Values Keep Sliding

August 16 2008 - The latest housing numbers from Zillow, the real estate research firm, are littered with minus signs. The data show that it may be a while yet before the housing downturn changes direction.

Zillow found that nearly 24 percent of homes sold during the past 12 months sold at a loss. (That includes foreclosures.) And of those who bought homes in the last five years, 29 percent now have negative equity.

Here’s another big negative: the median home value in the United States fell nearly 10 percent in the second quarter, compared with the same period the previous year. That is the biggest percentage decline since Zillow began collecting data 12 years ago. Out of 165 metropolitan areas surveyed by Zillow, 85 percent are in a declining-value zone.

Homes in a few places — including Austin, Tex.; Mobile, Ala.; and Oklahoma City — have managed to keep climbing in value. They did not partake of the boom that preceded the bust, and now they are being spared the bitter aftereffects.

Nearly a quarter of all U.S. homes sold in the past year were sold at a loss

Homes sold for loss (past 12 months)			23.7%

Foreclosure transactions (past 12 months)		14.5%

Buyers with negative equity (bought in last 5 years	29.1%

Median Home Value					$206,919

Change in average home value (from previous year)	-9.9%

source: Zillow

In Most Areas, Home Values Keep Sliding
by PHYLLIS KORKKI | New York Times