Press releases

San Francisco Bay Area Home Values Drop in the Third Quarter, Says Zillow.comâ„¢ Home Values Report

Area home values remain priciest in nation, but prove to be among worst performing

Nov 7, 2006

San Francisco – November 8, 2006— Home values in the San Francisco Bay Area showed a slight decline between the second and third quarters of 2006, according to Zillow.com. The decline of just under a percentage point (-0.9 percent) is the first quarter-over-quarter decline seen in Bay Area home values since the first quarter of 2003. Meanwhile, the Bay Area real estate market continued to be the priciest U.S. metropolitan area with a median value of $702,298, according to the Zindex™ home value indicator. The Zindex is a measure of the median value of all homes in the area (not just those that sold). Year-over-year, the Bay Area Zindex showed positive appreciation in the third quarter of 2.9 percent, which is less than the national appreciation rate of 5 percent. The San Francisco Bay Area is defined as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma Counties. Single-family homes in the Bay Area had a median value of $729,496—down half a percentage point from the prior quarter, but up 3.1 percent on a year-over-year basis. The condominium market showed more slowing— with values down 1.4 percent from the prior quarter, and up less than a percentage point (0.9 percent) year-over-year. The Bay Area condo Zindex for Q3 was $524,364—still nearly double the national condominium Zindex of $257,953. “While the Bay Area as a whole has slowed significantly in home value appreciation, the rates vary widely by city. Some of the more expensive areas of Marin County and the Peninsula are still showing double-digit year-over-year appreciation, while some areas of Sonoma County had year-over-year declines,