Yuma home prices up slightly; statewide down

PHOENIX — Home prices across the nation are beginning to recover.

But not in Arizona.

New figures Tuesday from the Federal Housing Finance Administration find that the price of the average home sold in the United States actually rose more than 2 percent between the second and third quarters of this year. That's the first time there has been an increase in more than two years.

But the figures for Arizona were more dismal, with the average home price dropping by more than 2 percent. Those new losses now put the year-over-year drop in excess of 17 percent.

That means a home valued at $200,000 last year now is worth $34,260 less. Only Nevada posted a larger decline.

In Yuma, where there are only annual figures, the decline was about 13.2 percent.

According to County Assessor Joe Wehrle, the average third quarter selling price was $172,390, compared to $167,193 for the second quarter, the Yuma Sun reported in an article on Nov. 7.

Still, the news could have been worse.

The decline between the first and second quarters in Arizona was nearly 6.5 percent. And home prices in the state dropped about 6 percent between the second and third quarters of 2008.

But even with the positive numbers on the national level, the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which tracks these figures, was not predicting an end to the housing slump.

"These data provide some evidence of a short-term stabilization in housing prices,'' Edward DeMarco said in a prepared statement.

"Given the headwinds facing markets, including high unemployment rates and continued high levels of delinquency and foreclosures, the longer-term view remains uncertain.''

The FHFA figures are significant because the agency computes its index based on figures from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which have the largest database of conventional mortgages going back 34 years.

That allows the agency to track prices on the same home being sold and resold. By contrast, some other indexes are based solely on whatever happens to be sold during that period.

At a local level, the agency uses an even broader base to determine actual changes in home values, considering not only home sales but also the appraisals when owners refinance their houses.

That index found home values in the Phoenix metro area, which includes Maricopa and Pinal counties, down 5.5 percent in the last quarter and nearly 16.9 percent lower than a year earlier.

Pima County residents fared somewhat better, with home values there dropping slightly more than 3 percent in three months; the year-over-year difference exceeds 9 percent.

Elsewhere, Coconino County home values were down about 3.5 percent for the quarter and 8.4 percent for the year. Yavapai County posted a 4.6 percent quarter-over-quarter drop with an annual decrease of close to 13.4 percent.