Remember that awesome apartment you dreamt about getting? The one with cool furniture, fuzzy carpets and skylights, which was mostly based on what you saw on “Hey Arnold!”? Well, it still doesn’t exist, but the crappy one across the street is now more affordable.

Maricopa County assessors reported a 33.75 percent decrease in the median full cash value (FCV) of county apartments in 2009, dropping the price from $152,000 to $100,700, according to the Maricopa County assessors’ Web site.

On the bright side, now that apartments are worth only two-thirds of last year’s value, wise investors have a chance at snatching up a cheap home that will increase in worth. On the not-so-bright side, your housing payments are not getting cheaper, and practically no one is getting a raise at work.

University housing prices in Tempe range from $4,300 to $8,189 per year, which equals a monthly rent of $358 to $682 for each resident. Most of the rooms include a roommate, which makes the yearly cost of a single room at least $8,600 per year.

The convenience of dorms relies mostly on their close proximity to classes, a trait that pales in comparison to the affordability of some nearby apartments.

The lowest price for a room at Taylor Place, ASU’s downtown Phoenix dormitories, is $7,160 per year, according to ASU’s housing Web site, while the median FCV of Phoenix single-family residential buildings sunk to $90,100.

At its current housing price over a four-year period, Taylor Place charges $28,640, over 30 percent of the price of a sensibly priced home in Phoenix.

Now it’s time for a mass exodus — every ASU student will rush to the nearest bank, get a loan and buy a house they may or may not be able to afford ... well, maybe we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves.

The assessors’ reports, despite the drops in value, show some positive trends, or at least some less negative trends.

The prices of houses and apartments in Maricopa County both dropped in 2009 by less than they had in 2008, which could be a good sign as Arizona’s economic wounds begin to heal.

For ASU, however, the dropping market values and high University housing prices may force some students — at least the older ones — out of the dorms. It has always been slightly un-cool for upperclassmen to remain on campus, but the financial incentives now outweigh the social ones.

Books and tuition already cost enough, and even though we all want to get our money’s worth from that new facilities fee, an apartment might make more sense. A quick apartmentsearch.com search of the Tempe area finds apartments for under $500 per month, apartments with kitchens and apartments that allow cats and dogs.

It may not be the apartment of your dreams, but there are some good alternatives.

Jack watched too much “Hey Arnold!” Reach him at jlfitzpa@asu.edu