Home values here are no longer booming. That's obvious.

But they aren't going bust, either. Far from it.

Home values here are among the fastest rising in the nation, the Building Industry Association of Lancaster County says.

Citing a recent federal report, the BIA said home appreciation in Lancaster County ranks 36th out of 292 metropolitian areas in the nation.

Local home values grew 2.77 percent in the first quarter and 4.66 percent since 2007's first quarter, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

"These appreciation rates remind consumers who are wary of buying a home now that a home purchase is still a solid investment," said the BIA in a prepared statement.

The office's quarterly Housing Price Index report is based on home-purchase and refinancing mortgages that are bought or securitized through Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

It shows that while home values are rising slower in Lancaster County, as well as in Pennsylvania overall, than a few years ago, values still are increasing.

For instance, values in Pennsylvania improved 0.7 percent in the first quarter and 2.4 percent since 2007's first quarter. Those are modest gains, to be sure, but at least they're gains.

The same can't be said in 43 other states, where values fell in the first quarter.

Hardest hit were Nevada and California, where values tumbled more than 8 percent.

A number of factors have kept values intact here, according to the BIA, which pointed to relatively affordable prices, desirable neighborhoods and a more conservative market.

During the real estate boom in the middle of this decade, values here increased far faster than usual.

For example, they rose nearly 12 percent in 2005, helping to push local values up 47.75 percent over the past five years.

But the county never saw the extreme runups that occurred in other markets — the same markets being hit hardest by the downturn now.

BIA officials said the home-appreciation figures are a more accurate indicator of property values than the average selling price, which is down 8.9 percent over the past year.

The average selling price dropped because fewer expensive homes were sold, they said.


Staff writer Tim Mekeel can be reached at tmekeel@LNPnews.com or 481-6030.