Housing crash is getting worse: report

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

As the Bush wars drag on the economy continues to suffer.

Housing crash is getting worse: report

BOSTON (MarketWatch) — If you thought the housing crisis was bad, think again.

It’s worse.

New data just out from Zillow, the real-estate information company, show house prices are falling at their fastest rate since the Lehman collapse.

Average home prices are down 8% from a year ago, 3% over the quarter, and are falling at about 1% every month, according to Zillow.

And the percentage of homeowners in negative-equity positions — with a home worth less than its mortgage — has rocketed to 28%, a new crisis high.

Zillow now predicts prices will fall about 8% this year and says it no longer expects the market to bottom before 2012.

“There’s no way we can get to flat, from these depreciation levels, in the last nine months of the year,” says Zillow economist Stan Humphries. “Demand is a lot more anemic than we had previously thought.”

When in 2012 does Zillow see the market bottoming out? Humphries won’t say.

What a foolish boondoggle those tax breaks for home buyers have turned out to be. The government spent an estimated $22 billion between 2008 and 2010 on tax breaks to prop up the housing market. All it achieved was a brief suckers’ rally that ended last summer.

Except: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/hou...me_latest_news

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

I thought Chairman Obama was going to fix all this with the $1,000,000,000,000 stimulus?

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by jfunderburk

I thought Chairman Obama was going to fix all this with the $1,000,000,000,000 stimulus?

[John McKenna]

Obama was too busy expanding the Bush wars that Joey voted for.
Way to go Joey.

[Nick Gromicko]

Since I represent home inspectors, all I can say is crash baby crash. Great for our industry.

[Bob Elliott]

Prices around here are defiantly down.
Just picked up two regular estate sale inspections for tomorrow however.(good sign)

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

I have noticed that over the last two weeks the quality of homes I have been asked to inspect has declined sharply, it appears that people are beginning to bottom feed. What that means exactly is beyond my pay-scale, we will just have to see where we go from here.

[Nick Gromicko]

Foreclosures create sellers. Drops in housing prices create buyers. Crash baby crash.

[Linas Dapkus]

I'm already booked for all of this week. Lots of condo sales too.

[Gary Farnsworth]

I look at sales. In KC, sales in April of 2011 are down 28% from April of 2010.

http://www.reeceandnichols.com/pages...rket-trends-kc


There are over 31,000 homes for sale in and around the greater Kansas City area. 2,031 homes sold in April of 2011. I do not know who does the inspections, but all of us inspectors here in KC are hurting. ASHI may be getting most of the business so they can contribute for Missouri licensing lobbying. April of 2011 for me was the worse since 2003.

Sales of homes have, and are continuing to decline here sharply. Figures listed of homes on market may be for Reece and Nichols only. Zillow has over 30,000 homes listed in our market as for sale.

What we need are jobs. You cannot believe the college grads who are living back home because they cannot find a job that pays well enough to support themselves; "boomerang" kids as they are called.

It is worse than the media and associations say. I guess I am too much of a realist.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Originally Posted by jburkeson1

Here's a previously undisclosed photograph of the Chairman calling the shots on that glorious day...

[Douglas Wall]

Home Inspectors around here are busy, busy.

Naples, Florida
“Only the real estate boom years of 2004 and 2005 had more home sales in the Naples area than year 2010.”

“Naples homes sales are at record levels, available home inventories are decreasing and very bottom pricing has occurred.”

[James A. Levy]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Foreclosures create sellers. Drops in housing prices create buyers. Crash baby crash.

Employment stability creates buyers. It doesn't matter how low the prices go, no job...no buy.

[Nick Gromicko]

Employment stability creates buyers.

Nope. Job instability creates more sellers and buyers. Moving for a new job or a better economy is one of the reasons people put their homes up for sale.... and buy a new one (both good for us).

Besides, we have about 90% employment in this country. Do we really want 94%?

[James A. Levy]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Nope. Job instability creates more sellers and buyers. Moving for a new job or a better economy is one of the reasons people put their homes up for sale.... and buy a new one (both good for us).

Besides, we have about 90% employment in this country. Do we really want 94%?

Maybe I should phrase it differently. Economic stability creates buyers. We already have an overage of inventory that isn't selling. The instability model isn't really working out all that good.