Speaking of Value

From the NYT, a reminder of where we are in this process:

THE COUNT
What Could I Get for my House? Please, Don’t Ask

By PHYLLIS KORKKI
Published: May 11, 2008

It can be so much fun to play the “What’s my home worth?” game, either with your friends and family or inside your own head.

It was especially fun a few years ago. If you were at a party in 2005, say, you might have been able to brag, “And I could get three times what I paid for my house if I sold it now!” (Never mind that you weren’t planning to sell it, or that your next house would also cost three times as much.)

Now, of course, fewer people can play this game with glee. Many people who bought houses last year have actually seen the value of their investment decline. According to Zillow, the real estate Web site, median home values in the first quarter of 2008 declined 7.7 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

But the numbers also show that the value of homes bought in the first quarter of 2000 rose almost 68 percent by the first quarter of 2008 — a possible argument for staying put, and a sign that people who bought homes last year may eventually have bragging rights at parties. PHYLLIS KORKKI

Fallonia's prediction is that the market is jumping to the high high end for profitable ventures. $2.5M and Up.