MetaWorldPeace, WrathOfGod, and I were at the Philadelphia Snow Bowl that day, just up I-95 from Baltimore.
At kickoff:
And the three of us:
Hand and toe warmers: highly recommended
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According to the Case-Shiller 10-City Composite Index, home prices have increased about 30% since they hit their low point in early 2011:
That sounds good, but at the same time, home prices remain about 20% below their 2006 peak, and are at the same level as they were in mid-2004. That means on average if you bought a house 10 years ago, it’s still only worth what it was when you bought it.
Furthermore, the number of home sales remains historically low:
The annual rate of repeat sales is still 45% lower than it was at its peak in 2006, and is comparable to the rate of sales all the way back in 1991, more than 20 years ago!
It’s notoriously difficult to measure home prices, because homes are relatively illiquid and don’t change hands very often, but repeat sales indexes like Case-Shiller are about the best we can do, and they suggest that the national housing recovery has a long way to go before it reaches the previous peaks
