Is the Washington Post right?

The Washington Post today says real estate is down 25%. It doesn't say since when. When I randomly searched in Arlington, VA, here is what I found: the property at 1619 Colonial Terrace North sold in September of 2005 for $450,000. It sold again in September of 2008 for $578,000, an increase of $128,000, which is UP 28%. That is an annual increase of 9.3%. Records show that the buyer in 2005 put up 10% of the purchase price: $45,000. Thus the annual cash on cash return for that buyer was 94% or 282% total. There is obviously a lot of real estate pain in the country, but blanket statements really misstate the facts.