Click Here To See How Much Amherst Home Values Have Changed Since 2004

By Marc Torrence/Patch

Have property values increased or decreased in Amherst since 2004, when housing prices began to bubble only to collapse in 2007? Has it recovered since then?

Those are the questions The Washington Post set out to answer, not just for the country overall but for individual towns and neighborhoods, a total 19,000 U.S. zip codes as part of its The Divided American Dream series.

The results: One of the more impressive and useful interactive maps you'll ever use.

Post staffers Ted Mellnik, Darla Cameron, Denise Lu, Emily Badger and Kat Downs used data from Black Knight Financial Services to compare home prices from 2004, just as real estate prices started to skyrocket, to 2015.

The data does not account for inflation but does correct for foreclosures and distressed sales to better reflect home values, the Post said.

In Brooklyn, New York, for example, home prices have increased by 146 percent since 2004. But in Decatur, Georgia, a suburb outside of Atlanta, prices are down 25 percent.

Click here and simply punch in your zip code to find out your home's worth last year compared to 2004.