Bay Area home values rise overall
Bay Area home values experienced moderate increases over the past year, but it was a scattered revival as values still slumped in about a third of the region's ZIP codes, according to a real estate report being released today."The Bay Area is doing a lot better than the rest of the country now," said Stan Humphries, Zillow chief economist. "It has stabilized tremendously, and we're seeing some robust housing appreciation. Still, the dynamics of the market remain very challenging because of larger macro-economic headwinds."
Negative equity remains high, with about 20 percent of all debtors of mortgaged homes in the region underwater - owing more on their homes than the homes are worth. That's better than last year, when about 30 percent were underwater, but still a worrisome number.
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