Twin Cities house prices falling faster than the national average

Zillow's report for May contradicts local data

By buchtjd

June 20, 2012 at 3:29PM

A new report from Zillow says that house prices in the Twin Cities are falling harder than the national average. During May Zillow's house price index fell 3.1 percent from last year to $163,900 in the Twin Cities compared with a .9 percent decline for the nation as a whole.

Earlier this month the Minneapolis Area Association of Realtors reported a nearly 10 percent increase in the median sale price, and tomorrow the Minnesota Association of Realtors will offer up its own assessment of the state's housing market, a report that will also show a steep increase in sale prices.

What gives? First of all, now you can you see the challenges that JustListed faces in sorting out the many monthly housing indicators. Second, Zillow uses different data than the local Realtors' groups, which uses all sales that have closed during the month to determine a median sale price. Zillow uses public records and a more complicated formula to estimate house prices.

Whatever the case, the latest report (click here to see the full report) shows that that prices across the country vary wildly depending on the location, proving that all markets are local. Must be some good news, right? On a month-to-month basis prices across the country were up slightly, the third consecutive monthly increase. And the annual decline was the smallest since Fall 2007.

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