Zillow shows home-value declines in first quarter

Home-valuation and real estate marketing site Zillow announced that first-quarter home values dropped about 0.83 percent compared to values in first-quarter 2006, according to its latest Zindex.

The Zindex is a measure of median house values, based on the company's estimated values -- dubbed Zestimates -- in its database of U.S. properties. The Zindex is based on automated values for properties in a given area on a given day -- whether or not those properties are for sale.

Home values fell about 1.01 percent in the first quarter compared to fourth-quarter 2006, according to the latest quarterly Zindex.

Zillow also released a comparison of 46 metropolitan areas, with individual reports revealing county, city, ZIP code and neighborhood Zindex information.

Also, the company has released cost comparisons of a typical home -- 1,500 square feet with three bedrooms and two bathrooms -- in various market areas.

The five metro areas tracked by Zillow with the highest year-over-year appreciation in first-quarter value are Corvallis, Ore., at 17.26 percent; Grand Junction, Colo., at 16.57 percent; Seattle-Tacoma-Bremerton, Wash., at 12.03 percent; Bellingham, Wash., at 11.68 percent; and Portland-Salem, Ore., at 10.72 percent.

"While numerous cities around the nation are showing actual year-over-year declines in home values, the Pacific Northwest is largely bucking that trend," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president of data and analytics, in a statement. "Conversely, the two areas with the most depreciation are on the Gulf Coast of Florida."

The five metro areas with the highest year-over-year value depreciation in the first quarter are Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla., down 15 percent; Punta Gorda, Fla., down 12.43 percent; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, Calif., down 11.83 percent; Pittsfield, Mass., down 8.62 percent; and Reno, Nev., down 8.5 percent.

The five most expensive metropolitan areas tracked by the Zindex in the first quarter are San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, Calif., at $680,868; Honolulu, Hawaii, at $626,110; Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Lompoc, Calif., at $596,702; Los Angeles-Riverside-Orange County, Calif., at $541,572; and San Diego, Calif., at $513,695.

And the five least expensive metro areas in the first quarter, according to the Zindex, are Peoria-Pekin, Ill., at $90,116; Tulsa, Okla., at $95,382; Rockford, Ill., at $108,811; Columbia, S.C., at $111,763; and Champaign-Urbana, Ill., at $123,448.

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