NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Steven Chlapecka – schlapecka@ppionline.org, T: 202.525.3931
WASHINGTON—The Progressive Policy Institute (PPI) today unveiled a new “Battleground Home Values Index” showing how home prices in 16 potentially key states have failed to recover since the last presidential election in 2008.
In these 16 states, home prices are down an average of 16 percent since October 2008—from a median of $160,596 to a median of $131,191 in December 2011.
“This most important thing to stop the fall in home prices and that seems to have happened,” said PPI Senior Fellow Jason Gold, who co-authored the index with colleague Anne Kim, PPI’s managing director for policy and strategy. According to Gold, battleground home values have stayed flat for the last three months, in contrast to a steady decline since 2008.
“Housing will be a pivotal election year issue,” said Kim. “If home values are rising, people feel wealthier and more confident in the direction of the economy. Home values are as important to voters as the jobless rate.
The states included in the PPI analysis are among those hardest-hit by the housing crisis: Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, New Hampshire, Indiana, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
PPI’s analysis is based on data derived from Zillow and the U.S. Census Bureau. The overall median home value for the battleground states is a weighted average based on the proportion of housing units in that state.
For more information, see Gold and Kim’s policy report, “Underwater: Home Values in 2012 Battleground States.”
