The widely watched Case-Shiller home price index published monthly by Standard & Poor’s was released today for December 2010.  There is a two-month lag time for the data in this report.  The index for the Portland Oregon metro area was measured to be 138.2 at the end of December, which means that the average price for a home in this area is up 38.2% from the January 2000 starting point for the index.  According to this index, average prices in the Portland area have declined 7.8% year over year.

The index for the Portland area reached a high of 186.5 in July 2007.  The latest reading represents a decline in home prices of approximately 26% from that peak.  So a home that was worth $300,000 at the market peak is now worth closer to $222,000 today.  Another way to look at the index is that home prices now are close to what they were in March 2005.  See the chart below which illustrates what has happened.

While these statistics are sobering to think about, the Portland area housing market has certainly fared better than many real estate markets across the U.S.  Of the 20 metro areas that are tracked in the Case-Shiller index, Las Vegas and Phoenix have the largest declines off their market peaks of 58% and 55% respectively.  The Dallas TX metro area boasts the smallest decline at 9% off their peak.  When looking at the 20 city composite as a whole, the latest index reading is 139.3 and represents an average 31% decline in home values.