Zillow: Home Values Decline 2nd Q in a Row

Home values declined slightly on a year-over-year basis for the second consecutive quarter in the first quarter of 2007, though the Pacific Northwest is bucking the trend, according to Zillow.com, an online real estate community based in Seattle.Zillow's quarterly national home value report, which is also released in 46 metropolitan areas, found that home values fell 1.01% in the first quarter and were 0.83% lower than in the first quarter of 2006. "While numerous cities around the nation are showing actual year-over-year declines in home values, the Pacific Northwest is largely bucking that trend and, in fact, is showing double-digit appreciation in some areas," said Stan Humphries, Zillow's vice president of data and analytics. "Four of the top five highest-appreciating metropolitan areas are located in Washington state or Oregon. Conversely, the two areas with the most depreciation are on the Gulf Coast of Florida, both with double-digit depreciation." Zillow can be found online at http://www.zillow.com.