housing makt still in the pits
 

We still have a long way to go here folks

Home prices pummel again in the 1st qtr , more forclosures

The usual suspects - florida + nevada are involved

Where is the bottom?

the market was WAY overpriced to start with. there are pockets that are starting to rebound.

wait till the unemployment foreclosures start to hit.

The good news? In many major areas, average house prices are now at about 3-4 times income.

More good news? with rates below five percent, investors can buy and rent out places and make a profit again.

Real estate is local and its a shame people pay so much attention to averages.

Thats true and that was exasperated by the fact that wages had been relatively stagnant over the same period of time that housing was booming.

great just what we need. more slumlords making $$ off the gov't by taking section 8.:wf :wf :wf

Forget about averages. Averages are ajar because high end properties have decreased in value far less than med-low end real estate both commercial and residential, regardless of location.

This is simply not true. Real Estate is local. a 1,000,000 dollar property in loudon county virginia 3 years ago is now 650,000k. That same 1,000,000 dollar property in downtown DC (30 minutes away and same MSA) is worth 1,100,000. Location, location, location.

Rates of decline are certainly going to vary depending on locality and obviously some localities are actually increasing despite what the rest of the country is doing.

properties that were 150- 200K 3 yrs ago in each area. How are they today?

The bottom? The credit card market still hasn't even crashed yet.

Depends on the area. Again, if you are talking downtown DC, it was rare to find a place that cheap so the ones that were there have at very least maintained value. In Loudon VA? The percentage of drop has mirrored that of the higher end homes. In PW and loudon counties and PG county across the bridge, the 500-700 range has just gotten throttled. From what ive seen, that range has been the hardest hit across the board. Still, it depends on the area.

I had it beat into me not to think of a house
as an investment way back in the Savings and Loan
crisis.
A house is a place to live.

Much better than an apartment in
that you will get something back if
you can pay for it.

People taking other loans against houses
that were way overvalued have learned
a very hard lesson.

Have they? If they get a mortgage bailout, I'm afraid they won't. Sometimes the only thing that forces people to live within their means is when they no longer have any means. I had the same thing beat into me.

Lots of houses here foreclosed on.
Some very nice prices available to be
picked up on at the expensive of people
living in places they could not afford.

A lot of these foreclosures are on 2nd homes that people don't want to dip into their savings or investments to save, or are waiting to see if our benevolent Govt. will throw them a bone. Of course some are primary homes of people who lost their jobs, and I have no problem with helping them out.

There is nothing wrong with renting.

i rented for 26 yrs. until Very recently. the reason we bought, prices Finally fell to where we could afford something we Wanted, in a neighborhood we Wanted to live and we're paying about what we were paying per month in rent.
we got this place, $20k Below asking price, because it had been on the market 2 yrs starting a 3rd. AND, it was Almost $100k cheaper than 4-5 yrs ago.:zz:

This is how it is supposed to work.
Congrats on your new home.
I hope this type of thing happens in the
rest of the country.

It is a nice feeling that the money you
pay every month is going to something
you own.

The houses I am looking at are primary residences
of mostly older people in a coastal city.
I would guess their 401K did not meet requirements
for longer ownership given the current climate.
This is kinda sad imo.

The high end houses in the same place are 2nd homes.
These will probably not be sold quickly. They are not
worth near as much as the banks think right now.
Guess they are holding out till things get better.

A very small survey of a big problem.
As mentioned earlier each area in the US
has its own little story.

IMO, most homes here are still over priced. we just got luck and found the right person.
2 problems here, many people are VERY upside with their mortgages and the state and county tax rate. about $250 a month of our mortgage goes to pay the taxes (this house is only 6-7 yrs old). one development we looked at, taxes would have been $375-400 per month and the neighborhood was not as nice as this one.:zz: