Housing Markets Continue their Decline

For-sale signs are sprouting up like dandelions in today’s housing markets, which is extremely bad news for anyone looking to sell their house. Earlier this week, one report showed housing prices falling some 14.1% nationall in March from a year earlier while a second showed sales of new homes near their lowest levels since 1991.

Markets that have traditionally been safe, like Seattle, are also starting to feel the heat. Many economists believes that prices may fall an additional 10% nationwide before a recovery takes hold. This means that the home-buying season this year, which we are entering now, may be much weaker than many expected.

The twin threat of a rising number of foreclosures entering the housing market and an increase in mortgage delinquencies has created a cycle that could be difficult to end without government intervention. However, only certain areas are really affected by the increase in foreclosures: such as Phoenix, Florida, and California.

Some cities have seen stable prices despite a drop in sales, which seems to contradict logic. Manhattan, for example, has seen a 23% drop in sales but no signs of prices falling. This indicates that the majority of sellers continue to believe that the property is worth more and are not holding it with borrowed funds that may prompt a sale.

In the end, the housing market is continuing to deteriorate and it could be awhile before things are fixed. However, it appears that some markets are holding value better than others…

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