I went onto Zillow.com to see what home prices are doing in my area. It was not a pretty sight! I was expecting the market to be down, but not falling like a rock (see graph below). For net worth purposes, I usually change my home price in Quicken only once a year, and I keep it conservative if it’s risen substantially. I might have to rethink that strategy this year – I may reevaluate my house’s worth twice. At the end of June, beginning of July I will see what is happening and decide if I need to change anything in Quicken for net worth purposes. I keep my home price conservatively low, but if prices keep falling like they have I might have to lower the value in Quicken.
It’s a crazy market out there right now! Fortunately, I am not in danger of going underwater, and the purchase price I paid in 2004 is way lower (by about $50,000) than the current Zillow estimate, and my mortgage loan is only around $130,000. I am glad though that I am not having to move anywhere right now!
