According to recent information, the hardest hit sector of the real estate market during the recession was low-end properties.
The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University conducted a report to analyze the recession's repercussions for this sector. Overall, top-end home values peaked in 2006, however, prices have fallen 38 percent since then. For low-end homes, though, their peak was reached in 2007, and values have decline by 63 percent since.
While this discrepancy exists, the Joint Center's report found it is magnified in the nation's larger cities. Atlanta's high-end homes peaked in 2007, however, between then and December 2010, values fell by 23 percent. Low-end homes in the region, though, declined by 50 percent. In San Francisco, high-end homes declined by 24 percent versus 54 percent for low-tier properties.
The declining values have pushed property prices into record lows. In Atlanta, low-end properties are now valued under $122,000, while top-tier homes start at $221,000.
In Houston, properties averaged $202,545 for single-family homes - a 0.6 percent decline year-over-year. The region's median price also declined year-over-year, falling 2.2 percent to $148,000. As the discrepancy continues nationwide, this median could fall further.
Courtesy of 2M Realty News