Phoenix broke the Valley record for consecutive months of falling housing prices, making it the 18th straight month in August, according to an ASU study.
A study in the W.P. Carey School of Business shows housing prices decreased by 26 percent between August 2007 and August 2008 and 24 percent between July 2007 and July 2008. The Repeat Sales Index compares sales data and statistics over periods of time.
The index is based on repeat sales, which is the most reliable way to estimate price changes in the housing market. Repeat sales compare the prices of a single house against itself at different points in time, instead of comparing different homes with different quality factors.
Karl Guntermann, a finance professor in the business school, calculates the index with help from research associate and graduate student Alex Horenstein.
Guntermann said he doesn't expect the declines to end in August, and he estimates when all the figures are in, similar drops will be seen for September and October, according to a press release.
"This time around we've had a bigger crash," Guntermann said in the release. "The most apparent reason was that the country experienced a bigger housing bubble this time, certainly much greater than in the 1980s. The bigger the bubble, the more severe the downturn."
Guntermann said during the recent bubble Phoenix-area home prices inflated 75 to 80 percent.
Reach the reporter at Allison.Carlin@asu.edu.
