How about 2006? Why not 2006? Or 2007?
Why not 2008? That was the year the recession officially started right? The year the real-estate bubble popped?
Oh, wait. I know.
It's because housing prices in 2003 weren't as high as they were in subsequent years. The AP is cherry picking a year that fell before the housing collapse, and they had to go back to 2003 to find one that had prices lower than their cherry-picked sample shows today! Of course!
But, by that logic, they could have gone back to... I don't know... how 'bout 1940? In 1940, the median home price in the US was... I have it here... $30,600! And that price has been adjusted to the 2000 dollar!
Just think of it! Compared to 1940, why, Obama has made every homeowner almost a millionaire!
In 2003 George Bush took office and home values started climbing.
In 2008 "insiders" knew that 0bama was going to win in November and unloaded.
0bama caused home values to fall even before he was elected and even more after he took office.