National Appreciation at 13 year low
Boulder Appreciation Improves
The Housing Price Index (HPI) for the second quarter of 2007 was released today by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). The report shows a meager .1% increase in home prices nationwide between the 1st quarter and 2nd quarter. This is the lowest quarterly increase since 4th quarter 1994. The yearly appreciation was just 3.2%, the lowest increase since 1996-1997.
The report says that “House prices were basically flat in the second quarter despite tightening credit policies, rising foreclosure rates, and weakening buyer sentiment,” said Lockhart. “Significant price declines appear localized in areas with weak economies or where price increases were particularly dramatic during the housing boom.”
The states that have been most affected by price depreciation are: Nevada (-1.5%), Michigan (-1.4%), California (-1.4%), Massachusetts (-1.0%), and Rhode Island (-1.0%). The states that are still seeing good appreciation are: Utah (15.3%), Wyoming (12.8%), Washington (9.1%), Montana (9.1%), and New Mexico (8.8%). Colorado is ranked 37th (up from 38th in q1) nationally with an annual appreciation rate of 2.95%.
Locally our very own MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) Boulder/Longmont is ranked 185th out of 272 with 2.25% appreciation for the year. Comparatively, this is a great gain for us. During the 1st quarter of this year we were ranked 210th with a yearly appreciation of 1.55%.
Things get even better when you look at the most recent quarter alone. Colorado had an appreciation rate of .65% which was 24th highest and Boulder/Longmont had an appreciation rate of 1.66% for the quarter which was ranked us 46th nationally. It looks like we are holding steady while the rest of the field is falling back a bit.
The unfortunate news is that other parts of the country are suffering. In a separate post I will detail the overall picture in more detail.
The entire report can be viewed at http://www.ofheo.gov/HPI.asp
