Daniel, Bob C. does this type of analysis every month, but it is time consuming. You could contact him to find out more about his findings. Even when you break down the sales into those subcategories, you can still find prices increase, because the smaller the sample set becomes, the worse the data gets. I may have this mixed up, but it seems one month the 2200 sq ft homes increased in price, but upon closer inspection the reason was that it was the 4 bedroom homes that were selling and not the 3 bedrooms. In previous months, both types of homes sold equally, but now the 4 bedroom homes carried a premium. Or you could have a few homes with more money invested in remodels, or fewer facing a busy street, and all these things make the prices go up.
sdrealtor is right – you can’t know too much about this market unless you are either hitting the pavement every day, or talking with someone who is! The numbers are obviously flawed.
For those of you defending Case-Shiller, please explain why you think it is accurate of today’s conditions.
Perry, I agree with you. It comes down to doing the math. Too many people are brainwashed into thinking that buying a house is better than renting. People are not educated on housing market cycles or asset bubbles, and that is the problem.
