About one month ago I posted a rather lengthy discussion of the truth about Chicago area housing prices. The Case-Shiller price index that I referenced in that article has just been updated through March so here is a quick update on what it shows for Chicago. First, let me show you the trend going back to January 1987:
Just a quick reminder that the price tiers are defined as follows:
- Low – Under $227,766
- Middle – $227,766 – $348,054
- High – Above $348,054
Prices peaked approximately in September 2006 and have since declined between 9% for the low tier to 12% for the middle tier. That puts home prices back to where they were in December 2004. When you look at it that way it doesn’t seem quite so bad, does it?
I wish that over the last 8 years I had recorded all those debates with people who kept insisting that Chicago real estate never goes down.