The widely watched Case-Shiller home price index published monthly by Standard & Poor’s was released today for the month ending October 2011. There is always a two-month lag time for the data in this report. The index for the Portland Oregon metro area was measured to be 135.4 at the end of October, which means that the average price for a home in this area is up 35.4% from the January 2000 starting point for the index. According to this index, average prices in the Portland area were down 0.5% from the prior reading in September and are down about 4.7% from last October. Furthermore, all but one market area (Phoenix) tracked in this index registered a month over month decrease.

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 27% from that peak. So a home that was worth $300,000 at the market peak is now worth closer to $219,000 today. Another way to look at the index is that home prices now are close to what they were in January 2005. See the chart below which illustrates what has happened.

Looking at the other markets tracked by the index, Las Vegas and Phoenix have the largest declines off their market peaks of 61% and 56% respectively. The Dallas TX metro area boasts the smallest decline at 9% off their market peak. When looking at the 20 city composite as a whole, the latest index reading is 140.3 and represents an average 32% decline in home values.