2013 a Good Year for Home Value

Ok...so it's almost March and you've probably already heard from several sources that it was a good year for real estate owners but faithful readers of this blog (and I'm GRATEFUL for you) know how much credibility I feel the Case Shiller Home Value Index deserves.  There was a significant bump in month-over-month value in the 2nd quarter coming very close to the increases we were seeing at the height of the boom in 2005.  The market cooled a bit in the rest of the year resulting in a hot 16.55% increase in single family values for the year.  A nice boost in the recovery but not completely alarming, compared to the 30.6% rise in 2005.  All indications are that 2014 will be a solid year but in all likelihood not a repeat of 2013.

For the record the Case Shiller index lags the calendar a bit since it compares values of sold properties to the previous sale of the same property so the results are delayed a couple of months to make sure sales are recorded and verified.