CNN: US Home prices in steepest-ever quarterly drop

[El Pinko]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/14/real_estate/home_prices_fall_for_year/?postversion=2008021411


Home prices in steepest quarterly drop
Realtors say prices fell faster and in more places over last part of 2007.
BY Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
February 14 2008: 2:40 PM EST


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home prices continued their plunge during the last three months of 2007, setting a real estate trade group's record for the biggest-ever quarterly drop.

The national median price drop of 5.8%, to $206,200 from $219,300, was the steepest ever recorded by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which has been compiling the report since 1979.

....

"California, south Florida, D.C., many of the high-cost markets are reflecting that," said Walter Molony, a spokesman for NAR.

Each of the four U.S. regions recorded losses compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. The West took the worst hit, at 8.7%. Prices dropped 4.8% in the Northeast, 5.4% in the South and 3.2% in the Midwest.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Yanno ... just yesterday, the DC allnewzradio said DC prices were up like 5.5%

The 'burbs were down, but DC was up.

[El Pinko]

2. The uber-rich are still flush with money, so ritzy neighborhoods haven't fallen much (yet)

You see the same in SF Bay area - rich enclaves like Marin, better parts of Silicon Valley like Atherton have actually posted gains. But the areas where MOST people live are another story altogether...

[lurky]

5. Likewise, Manhattan is still rocketing to the moon,

while the rest of NYC has begun to decline. Same reasons, presumably.

[Mountainman]

3. I lowered my selling price another $25K last week. House has been on the market for over a year now

I'm renting and paying a mortgage because I took a job in another city. Oh well some day. I believe sellers are going to rent rather than lose a lot of money. I know I will.

[El Pinko]

4. My dad put his on the market for 9 months last year and then took it off again.

He lives alone with his GF in a 3500 sq ft. house on a 1/4 acre lot. I wish they would unload it and live somewhere more manageable. The last thing I want to do in my 70s is take care of some big house.

Good luck with yours.