by Calculated Risk on 3/31/2009 02:52:00 PM

The following graph is based on the Case-Shiller Tiered Price Indices for San Francisco. Case-Shiller has data for all 20 cities in the Composite 20 index.

Click on graph for larger image in new window.

This shows that prices increased faster for lower priced homes than higher priced homes. And prices have also fallen faster too.

It now appears mid-to-high priced homes are overpriced compared to lower priced homes - although prices will probably continue to fall for all three tiers.

Distressed properties - foreclosures and short sales - have dominated sales in the lower priced areas. This has pushed the prices down quicker than in the higher priced areas.

As an example, DataQuick reported this month:

[F]oreclosure resales last month ranged from 12.1 percent of resales in San Francisco to 69.5 percent in Solano County.

With so many foreclosures, prices have fallen quicker in Solano County than in San Francisco.

But over time, prices will probably equilibrate between the low and high priced areas. It will take longer for prices to fall in San Francisco, and I expect the lower priced areas to bottom (especially in real terms) before the higher priced areas.