From 2009’s market bottom last March (145.83 on the Index), single family home values in Greater Boston are up 4.7% as of June 2009. (June 2009 is the most recent month for which data is available from Standard and Poor’s.)

For the first six months of the 2009, single family home prices in the greater Boston area have climbed 1.3% (from 150.73 on the Index in January).  That might not seem like much to cheer about, but please remember the widespread fears of an economic depression that were so prevalent earlier in the year.

To pour a bit of cold water on any celebration, however, I have to note that at 152.7 in June, 2009, the Boston Index is still 5.9% lower than its 162.31 reading back in June 2008.

The big question for the next 6 to 12 months is whether we will successfully break the repeated stair-step pattern of partial home price rebounds followed by further home price declines that we in Massachusetts have been experiencing annually since 2006?

As this post is written in August 2009, another round of significant home value declines for Greater Boston in 2009 – 2010 appears unlikely. 

Given the building evidence that the national economy is stabilizing and consumer sentiment is rising, we may be at a real estate market bottom in Massachusetts.  If we are, we may see some up and down price “bumps” over the next 12 months in Massachusetts as the market finds and solidifies a bottom. 

Once a bottom is firmly established, sustained increases in MA home prices may be very possible over the next 3 to 5 years.  That’s a prospect sure to encourage everyone who’s lived through our painful real estate recession!

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The Greater Boston single family Index dropped to 150.73 in January 2009, a level not seen since the 150.42 reading back in April 2003.  The Index was at 153.05 last December.

For the past 12 months, single family home prices in the Greater Boston market have fallen 7.3% (from the 162.59 Index reading for January 2008).

Standard & Poor’s publishes home price indices for a total of 20 US metropolitan regions.  What’s been going on in many of these regions makes what’s happening in Greater Boston look relatively benign.

Standard & Poor’s is showing home price declines in all 20 metro areas it tracks, both on a monthly and an annual basis.  Seven of the metro areas turned in monthly declines exceeding 4% for January 2009.  (As detailed above, Greater Boston was down “only” 1.5%.)

Phoenix experienced the worst loss of home value in January 2009 (a whopping 5.5% monthly decline).

For the last 12 months, the three worst performing metropolitan regions according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are Phoenix (-35.0% on an annual basis), Las Vegas (-32.5%) and San Francisco (-32.4%).

Condominium values in the Greater Boston metropolitan region also turned in a negative performance in January 2009 according to the applicable S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.

Condo values fell 1.6% in January according to the Greater Boston Index (155.78 in January 2009 vs. 158.39 in December 2008). 

For the last 12 months, the Index showed a 6.7% decline in Greater Boston condominium values (from the 166.98 Index reading for January 2008).  Boston area condo prices are down to levels achieved back in September 2003 according to Standard and Poor’s.

If you’re a homeower interested in seeing how your property is faring in today’s market, click here to discover the current value of your home!

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