Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Record Housing Market Drop

The GOP-Chimperator deregulation economic plan continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. housing prices as reported by MSN Money. Most hard hit are Florida and California where the percentage drops in values are in double digits for some cities. I truly believe that until housing begins to recover, the larger economy will continue to tank. Sadly, ther appears to be no turn around in sight. Thankfully, in the greater Norfolk area market, prices have yet to decline overall, although certain neighborhoods and larger condo projects have been hard hit. Here are story highlights ( http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/HomebuyingGuide/HomePriceReport.aspx):
A 291-city report finds broad declines, but the biggest pain is limited to California and Florida. Small towns in the South and West are holding up well, number crunchers say. The 291-city report finds widespread declines, but the worst pain is found in California, where homes on average lost 6.7% of their value over the year; Florida, where homes prices declined 4.7%; and the desert Southwest, where overbuilt Arizona and Nevada continue to writhe.
"It's a perfect storm: Housing is heading down, and the economy is heading down with it," says economist James W. Hughes of Rutgers University. "2008 is certainly destined to be a lost housing year." The worst trouble is concentrated in California and Florida, where overbuilding and speculation drove prices beyond the reach of most buyers, and Ohio and Michigan, where failing local economies, job losses and shrinking populations mean there are more houses for sale than buyers.
In a handful of metropolitan areas -- Charlotte, N.C.; Milwaukee; Seattle; and New York -- the per-square-foot price of real estate still is growing (though far more slowly than at the market's peak), according to Radar Logic.

No comments: