[Atlas Sneezed]

Now, in 2008, the median home value was roughly $225K.

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I suspect that this is the median sale price. But the median guy didn’t buy his house last year. Most people live(d) in houses that they bought for a lower price than their new neighbors did for a comparable house.

Yes, some bought at a peak, but the typical guy didn’t.

[RobRoy]

My bro in law lives in the Phoenix area. I looked up his neighborhood on Zillow almost two years ago and a fascinating thing was apparent. Almost all the homes were valued at the $425k to $475K range, except about 7 of the homes were in the $235 to $275k range. I looked up the details and found one thing in common with all of the “cheap” homes: They had recently sold for that price.

Those 7 homes were showing the REAL value of all the homes in the neighborhood. :)

[The_Reader_David]

The whole analysis is completely bogus, both overly rosy (leaving out state and local taxes) and overly dire, since the “typical Joe” raising two kids alone probably rents or owns a cheap starter home, rather than owning a median priced home.

[qwertypie]

I know more people that re-fied than didn’t. Most at the max that they could wring out of their equity, meaning that they actually have a mortgage based on 2006 or 2007 appraisals.