Here we go again, another report from Case-Shiller saying home prices have fallen across the entire country –except somehow in Washington DC.  I live and work in Washington DC so I’m happy to see that, however, I know I’m not the only one who is exhausted by the rollercoaster ride of stats that say the market is up on Monday and down on Tuesday. 

It is very important to remember home price indices are calculated using a variety of interpretations of the data.  Case-Shiller use data on repeat sales of single-family homes – meaning they look to see what happens with a home sells twice.  Did it sell for more, or for less than it did last time? The full report can be found here.

I want to emphasis that real estate is a hyper local business driven by micro market centers in very very small geographic areas.  We should not panic and think the entire housing industry is on the verge of collapse.  Remember two things: 

1) If you’re not selling right now, and have no plans to do so in the immediate future – who cares what the number show.  Most Americans are not in the market to sell right now and so any gain or loss based on comparable sales in their neighborhood will not be realized anyway. 

2) Your home may very well be performing well and so don’t assume it is not.  Continue to have pride in ownership, maintain your property, and consult with your local Realtor to find out how much your home is actually worth today.

Here’s a summary of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes release last week:

• Prices of U.S. single-family homes were down 16.3 percent in July compared to a year earlier
• The composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 0.9 percent in July from June
• The pace of home price declines since May has slowed (to about a third of the rate of the two previous three-month periods)
• Home prices in the DC area are just higher than where they were in August 2004

Of course, what could be bad news for sellers might be great news for buyers or investors (which, based on yesterday’s post, seems to be the case).

(Via Reuters and DC Home and Condo Prices)