U.S. home values fell slightly in November by 0.1%, according to this month's Zillow Real Estate Market Reports. Annually, the Zillow Home Value Index fell 4.6% from November 2010 to $147,800 and has returned to late 2003 levels.
Regionally, home values appreciated or remained flat from October to November in 60% of the 165 housing markets covered by Zillow, compared to 24% last year. On an annual basis, the median home value is down for 90% of the metropolitan markets covered by Zillow, although the rate of annualized depreciation has slowed significantly in the majority of the markets.
Meanwhile, foreclosure liquidation rates have fallen steadily since the robo-signing controversy in late 2010 as banks have slowed down their processing of foreclosures. According to Zillow, 8.1 out of every 10,000 U.S. homes were foreclosed upon in November. Foreclosure liquidations peaked in October 2010 at 11 out of every 10,000 homes, and Zillow expects the number to rise again pending the state attorneys general settlement with the nation's major servicers.
‘Overall, we are seeing encouraging signs in housing data such as sequential months of slowing depreciation rates, stabilizing markets and organic improvement in value trends, largely in the absence of government policy intervention,’ says Stan Humphries, Zillow's chief economist. ‘However, we're not out of the woods yet. Supply and demand are still not in balance in many markets, and we do expect higher foreclosure liquidation rates near-term, which will put additional downward pressure on home values.’