Central Ohio Home Values Could See 'Double-Dip' Decline

clipped from columbus.bizjournals.com Wednesday, February 10, 2010, 2:39pm EST Report: Area home values could see ‘double-dip’ decline Business First of Columbus Columbus area homes retained their value better than the nationwide average last year, but a report from a Seattle market research firm indicates the city could heading for a rough patch in 2010. Real estate database Zillow.com said the median value of all homes in the U.S. fell 5 percent to $186,200 in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008. The median home value in the Columbus area, meanwhile, nudged up 0.4 percent to $139,700 in the last three months of the year.

While home values were up from 2008 in Columbus, the area saw its fourth consecutive month-to-month decline in value following seven months of gains. It’s a sign, Zillow said, that the area could experience another sustained drop this year. Columbus is one of 24 metropolitan areas Zillow says could be approaching a so-called double-dip decline.

However, Zillow Economist Stan Humphries said in a release there’s good news for markets expected to face declines.

“For those markets that will see a double dip in home values before reaching a definitive bottom, this second dip will not be a return to the magnitude of depreciation seen earlier, but rather will look more like a modest aftershock of the earlier downturn,” Humphries said.

Interactive information on home values nationwide is available by clicking here.

This is Columbus Data:

Zillow Home Value Index

More Columbus Metro Home Values