Boulder vs. United States
OFHEO Home Price Index
The OFHEO Home Price Index for the first quarter of 2008 was recently released and the results were very interesting. Directly from the report which can be found at http://www.ofheo.com/ is the following text:
“Significant Findings:
Purchase-only Index:
1. Prices fell in the latest quarter in 43 states.
2. Eight states exhibited quarterly price declines of more than 3 percent and two
states — California and Nevada –saw prices decline more than 8 percent.
3. Every Census Division experienced a price decline in the latest quarter. Prices
were weakest in the Pacific Census Division, which experienced a 5.9 percent
price decline in the quarter.
All- transactions HPI:
4. The states with the greatest price appreciation between the first quarter of 2007
and the first quarter of 2008 were: Wyoming (6.3%), Utah (5.6%), Montana
(4.9%), Texas (4.7%), and Alabama (4.5%). The states with the sharpest
depreciation for the same period were: California (-10.6%), Nevada (-10.3%),
Florida (-8.1%), Arizona (-5.5%), and Michigan (-3.1%).
5. Of the 20 ranked cities with the greatest price declines over the latest four
quarters, all but one (Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada) were in California or Florida.
6. The Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) with the greatest price appreciation
between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008 were: Houma-
Bayou, Louisiana (11.2%), Grand Junction, Colorado (9.1%), and Wenatchee,
Washington (8.0%). The MSAs with the sharpest depreciation for the same
period were: Merced (-24.7%), Stockton (-21.5%), and Modesto (-21.0%), all in
California.
7. Of the 292 cities on OFHEO’s list of “ranked” MSAs, 164 had positive quarterly
appreciation and 128 had price declines.”
The US as a whole showed a small decline for the first time ever over a 4 quarter period. What is clear is that the Boulder Colorado market is doing significantly better than much of the nation. Over the past 4 quarters, the Boulder area had average appreciation of 4.11% and Colorado had 2.39% while the US as a whole was -.03%. The chart below shows how our market is moving contrary to the country as a whole. Currently we are ranked 53rd out of the 291 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, a marked improvement from where we were just 18 months ago. 
