Phoenix homes now undervalued by 22%

A frequent leader of late on the negative side of housing stats, Phoenix avoided the top spot among offenders on IHS Global Insight’s analysis of overvalued housing markets during the real estate bubble. And as of year-end, home prices here were undervalued by more than 22 percent, according to the data released Friday.

“The metro areas of California and Florida dominated the extremely overvalued list at the end of 2005,” the report says. “Overall, 10 metro areas have seen prices decline by more than 50 percent from their peaks, led by Merced, Calif.”

Merced was off 64 percent. Phoenix also escaped the next rung of 31 metro areas with declines of more than 40 percent — but barely

Prices in the Phoenix area fell 39.5 percent from 2005 to 2009, according to IHS, which provides economic and financial information on a variety of subjects. The report put 2005 prices in the Phoenix area at $242,100 — being overvalued by 38.9 percent. That compares with $146,500 at the end of 2009, with an undervaluation of 22.3 percent.

Phoenix Business Journal - Friday, March 19, 2010