Portland Home Values: Case-Shiller February Numbers

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index numbers are out for February and its more of the same as can be clearly seen from the graph above.  From the AP/Oregonian story:

The Standard &Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index shows price declines in 19 cities from January to February. The index fell for the seventh straight month. Prices fell at a faster rate in 11 markets in February compared with the previous month.

In the Portland metro area, prices fell 1.8 percent in February and were down 7 percent from February 2010. Only five other cities in the survey had sharper one-month declines. The Portland-area price index is now at a level not seen since the fall of 2004.

Average home prices in all 20 cities are now back to their summer 2003 levels.
High unemployment, stricter lending rules and fears that prices will fall further are among the reasons why few people are buying and selling homes. A record number of foreclosures are forcing down home prices in most metro areas, and prices are expected to keep falling through this year.

Which is pretty much how I'd describe it.  Particularly for the Oregon market, but true in general, continued high unemployment is really keeping housing prices from going anywhere but up down.  Though there has been a continued slow erosion of housing values in Portland, relative to the period of rapid decline, my previous prediction of a long period of trolling along the bottom is still reasonably true.  I'll be most curious to see how the April through July numbers turn out, this will be the first good indication of whether the market is starting to turn.