Author: Tim Ellis
Tim Ellis has been analyzing the real estate market since 2005, and has been a Product Manager for Statistics and Trends at Redfin since July 2010.
He combines an engineering background with a strong consumer-minded interest in real estate to provide a unique perspective on the real estate market.
He has run the Seattle-area real estate website Seattle Bubble since 2005, which is the region's most popular real estate news website. He also publishes Sound Housing Quarterly, a quarterly journal of the Seattle-area housing market.
Recent posts
December 29, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – October data is released in December).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of October:
October 2011
Month to Month: Down 0.7%
Year to Year: Down 4.7%
Prices at this level in: March 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 39.4% in 65 months
Low Tier: Under $319,767
Mid Tier: $319,767 to $599,697
Hi Tier: Over $599,697
Nineteen of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between September and October (vs. eighteen from August to September): Only Phoenix saw an increase. Wait, Phoenix? Yup, Phoenix. Atlanta fell the most in October (again), falling a whopping 5.0% in a single month.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:
And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:
Only the Bay Area’s low tier fell in October, but the other two tiers were flat and just barely up. Month to month, the low tier was down 0.9%, the middle tier was flat, and the high tier increased 0.3%.
In this next chart, I’ve visualized the month to month trends of all twenty Case-Shiller-tracked cities. Green and above the horizontal axis if they were increasing in the month charted, red and below the axis if they were decreasing. I’ve excluded 2000 through 2004 since they looked largely the same as 2005 (mostly green).
Just four months ago, all twenty cities saw month to month gains. Now just one is not the red.
Read the rest of this entry »
December 6, 2011
Over on the national blog, we just posted another big analysis of hundreds of thousands of listings and sales. Here are the numbers for San Francisco (SF & San Mateo Counties), where winter is still a winning time to list your home for a quick sale, a better chance of selling, and a better price:

November 30, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – September data is released in November).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of September:
September 2011
Month to Month: Down 1.5%
Year to Year: Down 5.9%
Prices at this level in: April 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 39.0% in 64 months
Low Tier: Under $320,010
Mid Tier: $320,010 to $603,426
Hi Tier: Over $603,426
Seventeen of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between August and September (vs. eleven from July to August): Only Washington DC, New York, and Portland rose. Atlanta fell the most in September, falling a whopping 5.9% in a single month.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:
And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:
All three of the Bay Area’s tiers fell in September, with the low tier losing the most ground. Month to month, the low tier was down 2.2%, the middle tier fell 1.1%, and the high tier decreased 0.9%.
In this next chart, I’ve visualized the month to month trends of all twenty Case-Shiller-tracked cities. Green and above the horizontal axis if they were increasing in the month charted, red and below the axis if they were decreasing. I’ve excluded 2000 through 2004 since they looked largely the same as 2005 (mostly green).
Just three months ago, all twenty cities saw month to month gains. Now only three have avoided falling into the red.
Read the rest of this entry »
October 25, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – August data is released in October).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of August:
August 2011
Month to Month: Down 0.1%
Year to Year: Down 5.3%
Prices at this level in: April 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 38.1% in 63 months
Low Tier: Under $321,866
Mid Tier: $321,866 to $608,109
Hi Tier: Over $608,109
Ten of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between July and August (vs. two from June to July): Phoenix and Las Vegas. Washington DC. saw the biggest increase this month, followed closely behind by Detroit and Chicago.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:
And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:
The Bay Area’s low and middle tiers both took a hit in August, but the high tier was flat. Month to month, the low tier was down 1.5%, the middle tier fell 0.7%, and the high tier was flat.
Here’s a new chart for you. In this one, I’ve visualized the month to month trends of all twenty Case-Shiller-tracked cities. Green and above the horizontal axis if they were increasing in the month charted, red and below the axis if they were decreasing. I’ve excluded 2000 through 2004 since they looked largely the same as 2005 (mostly green).
The effects of 2009′s homebuyer tax credit are dramatically visible in this chart, as is the fairly strong spring we had this year, hitting 20 cities increasing for the first time since July 2005. However, the sudden drop-off of month-over-month gains in August’s data is interesting, since during a “normal” year we wouldn’t expect to see this many cities in the red until December or January. I think this indicates that there is still quite a bit of weakness in home prices.
Read the rest of this entry »
October 21, 2011
Greetings, Redfinnians!
This month we rolled out a new and improved version of our monthly insider report. “But where is it,” you ask. Ahh, well this new report is available via email-only, and was sent out to a group of registered users who have saved searches or favorites in select neighborhoods.
We’ll be expanding the report to include more neighborhoods every month, so if you want to make sure you get it when it comes to your ‘hood, just make sure you’re signed up for our newsletters (check the “Redfin Announcements” box in your Account Settings), and save a favorite home or a search. That’s it, you’re signed up!
Here on the blog we will continue posting the “lite” version of our monthly report, including our Redfin Heat Index, the heat map, and the hottest / coldest neighborhoods for the foreseeable future. So, let’s get into it.
First up is our national Redfin Heat Index* ranking table at right. San Francisco moved up a few spots on the list. As home price losses tapering off, San Francisco’s Heat Index increased six points, bumping the city from #5 in August to #3 in September.
Washington DC continues to be the hottest market in the nation, while Long Island is still pulling up the rear with falling prices and a dramatic 11.1 months of supply. Yikes!
Next up, let’s have a look at an update to our interactive Redfin Heat Index map broken down by zip code, based on September data. Note that we only calculate the Redfin Heat Index for zip codes with at least 20 sales in September 2011 and September 2010, and as we head into the winter that means more and more zip codes will be grey with “not enough data.”
All righty, that’s it for this month. Stay tuned as our new and improved local Insider Report makes its way to your neighborhood.
As usual, you can download our comprehensive spreadsheet and dig into the data for yourself. Inside you’ll find county, city, and neighborhood information galore. You can also liven up the place by posting a comment below.
*Methodology
The Redfin Heat Index (Beta) uses listings, sales, and price changes to determine the relative “heat” of a given real estate market. We set a baseline Heat Index of 75.0 at 6.0 months of supply and +5 % price change year-over-year.
Every percentage point increase in prices above the 5% baseline will increase the heat index by two points, every percentage point decrease in prices below the 5% baseline will decrease the heat index by two points.
Every one month of supply increase above the 6.0 baseline will decrease the heat index by seven points, every one month of supply decrease below the 6.0 baseline will increase the heat index by seven points.
Here’s the formula:
- MOS = Months of Supply: End of Month Inventory / Closed Sales in the Month
- $YOY = Year-over-year change in the median price per square foot.
- Heat Index = ((MOS – 6.0) * 7) + (($YOY – 5%) * 2) + 75
September 27, 2011
Before we get going with this month’s Case-Shiller post, I’d like to apologize for the lack of an update last month. Long story short, this particular duty slipped through the cracks while I was out on leave. We heard from a number of readers who were lamenting the missing post. Rest assured, we have heard you and it will not happen again!
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – July data is released in September).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of July:
July 2011
Month to Month: Up 0.3%
Year to Year: Down 5.6%
Prices at this level in: April 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 38.1% in 62 months
Low Tier: Under $319,938
Mid Tier: $319,938 to $601,361
Hi Tier: Over $601,361
Only two of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between June and July (vs. none from May to June): Phoenix and Las Vegas. Weirdly, Detroit saw the biggest increase, followed by Minneapolis.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:

And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:

Las Vegas’ low and high tiers rose in July, while the middle tier lost a bit of ground. Month to month, the low tier was up 0.8%, the middle tier fell 1.0%, and the high tier increased 0.5%.
Read the rest of this entry »
July 29, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – May data is released in July).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of May:
May 2011
Month to Month: Up 1.8%
Year to Year: Down 5.4%
Prices at this level in: April 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 38.4% in 60 months
Low Tier: Under $317,708
Mid Tier: $317,708 to $589,634
Hi Tier: Over $589,634
Only three of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between April and May (down from 7 in April and 18 in March). Boston ousted DC for the biggest increase, gaining 2.7% on the month. Only Tampa, Las Vegas, and Detroit continued to fall.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:

And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:

All three of the Bay Area’s price tiers had a strong showing in May. Month to month, the low tier was up 1.1%, the middle tier rose 1.3%, and the high tier increased 1.0%.
Read the rest of this entry »
June 29, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – April data is released in June).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of April:
April 2011
Month to Month: Up 1.7%
Year to Year: Down 5.5%
Prices at this level in: January 2001
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 39.5% in 59 months
Low Tier: Under $314,659
Mid Tier: $314,659 to $579,970
Hi Tier: Over $579,970
Only seven of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between March and April (down from eighteen the previous month). The biggest increase was in Washington DC again with a solid 3.0% gain. Other markets that saw increases above 1% were San Francisco (+1.7%), Atlanta (+1.6%), Seattle (+1.6%), Denver (+1.5%), and Cleveland (+1.2%).
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:

And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:

Although the Bay Area’s middle and high tiers both had a decent bump in April, the low tier actually dropped a bit. Month to month, the low tier was down 0.3%, the middle tier rose 1.1%, and the high tier increased 1.5%.
Read the rest of this entry »
June 1, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – March data is released in May).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of March:
March 2011
Month to Month: Down 0.1%
Year to Year: Down 5.1%
Prices at this level in: December 2000
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 40.6% in 58 months
Low Tier: Under $312,546
Mid Tier: $312,546 to $573,577
Hi Tier: Over $573,577
Eighteen of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between February and March (one less than the previous month). Washington DC saw a 0.9% increase while Seattle eeked out a 0.1% bump.
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:

And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:

The Bay Area’s low and middle tiers both fell fairly substantially from February, but the high tier gained some ground. Month to month, the low tier was down 0.9%, the middle tier fell 1.5%, and the high tier increased 0.7%.
Read the rest of this entry »
April 26, 2011
It’s time for our monthly check-in of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices (HPI). The Case-Shiller data is generally considered to be the most reliable measure of overall home price changes for a region, since they only consider repeat sales of homes when calculating their index, instead of looking at all the homes that sold in a given month.
For the full source data behind this post, hit the S&P/Case-Shiller website. For a more detailed explanation of how the Case-Shiller Home Price Index is calculated, check out their methodology pdf. Also remember that the data released on the last Tuesday of a given month is for the period two months prior (i.e. – February data is released in April).
Here are the basic Case-Shiller stats for the Bay Area* as of February:
February 2011
Month to Month: Down 2.6%
Year to Year: Down 3.5%
Prices at this level in: March 2002
Peak month: May 2006
Change from Peak: Down 40.5% in 57 months
Low Tier: Under $316,384
Mid Tier: $316,384 to $580,068
Hi Tier: Over $580,068
Nineteen of the twenty metro areas tracked by Case-Shiller saw a decrease in their HPI between January and February (the same as December to January). Detroit of all places was the only city that saw a month-to-month gain (up 1.0%).
Here’s a look at the latest local tiered data, back through 2000:

And here’s a closer look at the recent changes, with the vertical and horizontal axes zoomed in to show just the last year:

All three of the Bay Area’s price tiers took a hit in February, but the middle tier fell the furthest. Month to month, the low tier was down 1.4%, the middle tier fell 2.5%, and the high tier decreased 2.1%.
Read the rest of this entry »