Home values in the Boston area are faring better than their national counterparts, falling just 2.8 percent in the second quarter compared to the same time a year ago.
Nationwide, home values fell 6.2 percent year-over-year, according to Zillow’s second quarter Real Estate Market Reports. Home values have fallen 28.8 percent since its peak in June 2006. Pittsburgh was the only metro area to see a yearly increase in home values, according to Zillow.
In the Boston metro area, the home value index in the second quarter was $318,700 – a 2.1 percent increase from the first quarter. Home values are down 20.6 percent from the peak in 2006 – also proving the housing crisis did not batter the Hub as badly as the rest of the nation.
Regionally, home values fell on a year-over-year basis in 142 of the 154 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) covered by Zillow and were flat in eight. In the short term, however, nearly two-thirds of MSAs (94 of 154) experienced home value appreciation, with the Zillow Home Value Index rising from the first to the second quarter.
Negative equity in the Boston metro area was at 11.8 percent in the second quarter. Nationally, negative equity fell slightly to 26.8 percent of single-family homeowners with mortgages in the second quarter, down from 28.4 percent in the first. A homeowner is in negative equity when they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.
"While there are many positive signs in the second quarter, and it is clear the post-tax credit free-fall of home values is over, we’re not out of the woods yet," said Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries. "It is very encouraging that two-thirds of markets in our report experienced home value appreciation, but we have to remember that this is coming on the heels of one of the worst quarters since the housing recession began.
"We expect a bumpy road ahead. There will be many ups and downs in home values before this is over, and we continue to expect a true bottom in 2012, at the earliest. There are still hazards in the form of a full foreclosure pipeline, high negative equity and fluctuations in demand."
