Story Photos
 Photo by Greg Ebersole Vadim Fedoruk, a carpenter for Wood and Wood Development, uses a table saw in the garage at left for finish work on new homes in the Willow Pointe subdivision off Mt. Solo Road in Longview. The value of homes in Cowlitz County continues to rise at one of the fastest rates in the nation. |
Survey sees sizzling home values
Saturday, September 1, 2007 11:34 PM PDT
By Evan Caldwell
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview area home values continue to sizzle while the rest of the nation cools.
The Longview area's 13.6 percent year-over-year increase in home values ranks sixth in the country, according to Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight data released last week.
The office releases year-over-year house price appreciation once per quarter. The recently released data measures home sales from June 30, 2006, to June 30, 2007.
During the previous quarter --- Mar. 31, 2006, to Mar. 31, 2007 --- the Longview area was ranked 14th in the nationwide survey of 282 metropolitan areas with a 12.9 percent year-over-year increase in home values.
Nationwide, home prices grew 3.2 percent in the second quarter from year-ago levels, the smallest year-over year price growth in 10 years. Washington state ranked third, with appreciation at 9.12 percent, behind Utah at 15.28 percent and Wyoming at 12.84 percent.
The OFHEO appreciation index measures more than 33 million repeat sales and refinancing of the same properties from the past 32 years using records of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which the office oversees. OFHEO provides a better idea of home prices than median price of homes sold. The Northwest Multiple Listing Service reports monthly on sale prices for houses listed with the service.
"House prices were basically flat in the second quarter despite tightening credit policies, rising foreclosure rates and weakening buyer sentiment," OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart said of the national trend. "Significant price declines appear localized in areas with weak economies or where price increases were particularly dramatic during the housing boom."
Locally, the news continues a major turnaround for real estate in the area. From 2001 to 2005, the market grew by only 32.9 percent.
"I'm kind of surprised at the that ranking," said Matt Broughton, Realtor/owner of Realty World in Longview. "I've been seeing a flat market, we're seeing a lot of pricing reductions. There's a lot inventory. It's not like it was last summer."
Despite the glut of homes on the market this spring, the median price for a home in the county rose to $199,250 in June --- a record high. And OFHEO mainly tracks homes that sold --- not that are still for sale --- in for its report.
Longview's ranking likely also is bolstered by current owners refinancing their homes for extra cash, since part of the OFHEO measures refinancing.
"The market spiked last year and lots of people were still getting the equity out of the home this year," Broughton said.
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