Home Prices Resume Downward Trend in Sept., Report Says

While some counties are showing positive trends, regional and national home price trends resumed a sharp decline during September, according to data released Tuesday by Denver-based Integrated Asset Services, LLC. The company’s IAS360 index found that home prices fell 2.1 percent between August and September, and 13.3 percent nationally during the month; those numbers compare to a 0.2 percent monthly decline and 11.6 percent national decline during August. IAS CEO David McCarthy suggested that despite seemingly reinvigorated pricing woes at the national level, some counties showed surprising resilience during September — of the 360 counties tracked by the company’s data, 75 reported month-over-month gains. That’s a significant improvement over recent months. “Housing prices at the national levels are still seeing a decline, but we’re seeing positive signs at the county level, and even more encouraging signs at the neighborhood level,” he said. Despite some signs of localized strength, however, all four U.S. census regions experienced a drop in house prices in September, with the South and West leading the way; the South saw prices fall an annualized 11.2 percent, while the West saw prices fall 19 percent. Drilling below census regions, all nine census divisions also showed price declines, with the Pacific division — including California — posting a whopping 20.2 percent decline for the year. A closer look at the data suggests that the counties seeing monthly improvements were largely outside of heavily-populated major metropolitan areas; areas like San Luis Obispo County in Calif. and Eagle County, Colo. in comparison, major metros saw prices nearly universally fall during Sept., with Boston reporting a steep 4.7 percent decline for the month, and Washington DC posting a 10.8 percent monthly decline. Even Denver, which has been relatively strong in recently months, posted a 2.3 percent decline during Sept., according to the IAS360 data. For information, visit http://www.iasreo.com. Write to Kelly Curran at [email protected]