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Here is an article I found regarding our home prices in general.  Whether you are selling or buying, it's good to be educated as much as possible about what's happening.  Remember, here in the Phoenix market, 2004 and 2005 were an exceptionally unusual market.  We are starting to realize a more realistic market.  What's your thought?  I'd be interested to know what your opinion is.  Thanks

Home prices grow at slowest pace in 14 years

Freddie Mac says that home price growth will likely slow further this year, with prices falling in some regions.

June 4 2007: 3:36 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Prices of American homes rose in the first quarter of this year at the slowest annual rate in 14 years, Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. home funding company, said Monday.

Home prices did not keep pace with the overall level of inflation during the quarter. As the housing market settles near the bottom of its cycle during the second half of this year, national home price growth will probably slow further, with price declines in many parts of the country, said Freddie Mac Vice President and chief economist Frank Nothaft.

"Existing home sales rose in the first quarter relative to the fourth quarter, on a seasonally adjusted basis, but were down more than 9 percent from a year ago and as a result home price growth decelerated further," he said in a statement.

Freddie Mac (up $0.09 to $67.18, Charts, Fortune 500) said its Conventional Mortgage Home Price Index (CMHPI) features a new purchase-transaction-only series for the nation and the nine Census divisions rather than relying on data from both purchase and refinance-appraisal transactions.

The new index showed that, on a national level, home prices rose 1.3 percent in the first quarter on an annualized basis and 2.8 percent year over year, which was its slowest annual rate of growth since the first quarter of 1993, when prices increased by 1.6 percent.

The CMHPI-Purchase growth rates for the fourth quarter of 2006 amounted to a 0.4 percent annualized quarterly change and a 4.0 percent rise from the fourth quarter of 2005.

Freddie Mac said the classic version of the CMHPI, with both purchase and refinance-appraisal transactions, indicated that home values rose 1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2007 on an annualized basis, which was up from a revised annualized rate of 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006.

The classic version of the CMHPI showed the slowest quarterly growth rate in more than 12 years, and over the 12 months ending in March, home prices appreciated 4.4 percent.

"At the moment, we're forecasting home price appreciation to slow further later in the year, with a total average rise in home values nationally of around 1 percent over the whole year as measured by the purchase-only series," said Nothaft.

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The first article, Housing rebound projected for 2008, from the Business Journal of Phoenix, reports that the Greater Phoenix Blue Chip real estate panel is forecasting a 13 percent drop in single-family permits for 2007, to 37,000 permits. But they are predicting a rebound in 2008 to 40,000 permits, a 10 percent increase over 2007 levels. However there is some uncertainty to the forecast, writes topics editor Elliott Pollack. He notes a wide spread in predictions among panelists from a low of 27,000 permits for 2007 to a high of 48,000. "The single-family residential market weakened considerably late in 2006 but recently picked up again," Pollack wrote. "It remains to be seen if this is an aberration or if the worst is over", he added.

http://phoenix.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/2007/06/18/daily37.html?t=printable