Existing single-family home sales drop

Existing single-family home sales drop

news.yahoo.com

WASHINGTON - Sales of existing homes fell in December, closing out a horrible year for housing in which sales of single-family homes plunged by the largest amount in 25 years. The median home price dropped for the entire year, the first time that has occurred in four decades.
For the year, sales of single-family homes were down by 13 percent, the biggest drop since a 17.7 percent plunge in 1982. The median price for a single-family home dropped 1.8 percent to $217,000.
That was the first annual price decline on records going back to 1968. Lawrence Yun, the Realtors' chief economist, said it was likely that the country has not experienced a decline in housing prices for an entire year since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

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This is very bad folks and it is only the beginning, it will get a lot worse before it gets better.
This is why we will begin to see more and more foreclosures, people cannot get out of their homes. They will start to see that they have lost any equity that they had and as prices keep dropping people will start to just give up and got to foreclosure, esp. people who have only owned their homes for the last 6 years. In the last 6 years we have been able to buy homes with little or no money down, we have nothing invested into these homes and when we cant sell them, well you get the picture...
Even before this whole mess, my neighbors down the street got relocated, they put their house up for sale and it set there for a year and a half, they dropped the asking price so much it was eventually lower than the payoff, never sold they ended up in forclosure.
I have been in Real Estate off and on for 15 years now and this is not good and it is going to get much worse.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

I'm still waiting for a home to be affordable for me. Where I am the foreclosures are everywhere but they all want some huge lump of cash to participate in the auctions. Not like 5 or 10 grand but like 25K and 30K. Even then the final price is always just as high as it's ever been.

I keep hearing about mortgages going defunct and seeing the plentiful for sale properties but the prices refuse to fall. The whole state is like this.

This is when people like me who have saved money over the years and built up excellent credit are supposed to win out over the fools who bought what they couldn't afford and ruined their credit but apparently so many have screwed themselves over that they'll all get government bail-outs and those like me who have been responsible will get to pay for their bail-out with our taxes and not get a single chance to use the lump sum and good credit we worked so hard to gain.

Apparently the way to succeed in America these days is to be a deadbeat with no sense of decency of responsibility.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Don't ever give up. I know from experience that it is hard not to go with the flow, but you are better than that. As Dave Ramsey would say "Don't be normal. Normal is broke." We too do not believe in debt. However in the long run we will win out. We aren't tied to multiple dead end jobs just to put food on the table and pay the bills. I bet you aren't either. Our biggest issues are trying to teach our children that saving is better than spending. They receive the opposite message all the time. Your time will come and maybe not to far off. When no one else has anything, everything goes cheap. Hang in there and keep yor head up. Be different and be secure.

respectfully

reluctantpawn

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


Well like I said, it will only get worse you are seeing the beginning of a complete Real Estate blow out sale. Yes, prices are still high but when the banks start to realize they are going to be sitting on empty property, those prices will start to drop.
Here's how this works in Ga., the states have different laws but for the most part this is the timeline...
Family decides to let their house go, after 4 months of non payment ( this is for Ga. in some states you can have as much as a year before foreclosure starts) the bank can start the procedure. The banks has to run an "auction" notice in your local paper for 4 weeks and then can auction your house to the highest bidder on the 1st Tuesday of each month (only 12 times a year)
So why do you see all of the For Sale/Bank Owned/Hud home signs? because they didnt sell at auction, the starting price was too high or no one was interested. Now they will sit on the market and sit and sit until prices start to fall.
So if you just hold out a little longer you will start to see more realistic home prices but this is also the reason the banks are in so much trouble...they cant sell the propertys anywhere near what was owed on them.

reply to post by thisguyrighthere


That is not totally true. I work for a living and can afford my house. I am not late, not delinquent, not in foreclosure, I have very good credit, above 750. What is my consolation prize? A house that's value has DROPPED around 18%, but hey, do the property taxes drop with the value? HELL NO! They still go up every year, go figure. What am I to do but wait it out. Sell now and take a loss. Hmmmmm...........I don't think so.

Please remember that when reading these reports this is a national recount. There are areas that yes sales are down but prices are up as much as 10-18%.
I am as my name states I work in Dallas Tx and here are my experiences thus far. Everything within the 635 and 30 loop is in very high demand for First time home buyers, Move up buyers and investors.
Yes there are a ton of foreclosures here in Dallas but list prices are strong and good properties move quickly. The areas hit hardest are the new construction areas. Here is a good example I received a email about price reductions in a new sub division this was way north of Dallas. One home never lived in, original list $850,000 move it out price $560,000. This is just one of the many I am seeing day in and day out. Existing homes in established areas are holding value and going up.

This is just a small snapshot of Dallas and just my 2 cents also.

If you have questions please ask and I will do my best to answer anything.

Lakewood

But for some of us, this is a blessing in disguise....and I'm pretty happy about it.

We are buying a house this year. In the area that we are buying the house prices are so flippn low - its unbelievable. And there is an abudance of houses to choose from. And on top of that, our fixed interest rate will be super low.

I know quite a few people who have been wanting to buy a house - and this year is the year they are doing so, because it is truly a buyers market in many cities.

Originally posted by greeneyedleo

But for some of us, this is a blessing in disguise....and I'm pretty happy about it.

We are buying a house this year. In the area that we are buying the house prices are so flippn low - its unbelievable. And there is an abudance of houses to choose from. And on top of that, our fixed interest rate will be super low.

Good for you, sometimes I wish I were in those shoes. Oh well. For me personally, I was fortunate enough not to get tangled in ARMS or interest only loans. I always thought they sucked, I have a low interest 30 year fixed, for me it's the only way to go, old school I guess. But I believe that is the reason I still have my house. Realestate will come back up eventually, it ALWAYS does, just takes time. When the economy was bad or stocks, mutual funds lost money, I always made money on realestate. My 2¢.

Green eye

You are 100% correct in your statement. This market will turn out to be good for the economy. With interest rates very low and a vast number of homes on the market it will bring buyers and lots them. Most will be 1st time home buyers and a ton will be investors buying rental property. Everyone that experienced a foreclosure will have to end up renting.

Lakewood

San Antonio is still a good 5% or better increase in value, but I can see everyone's point.

One side note: Who the hell can afford a 600 to 750k house? Well if you need to live and work in California that is a house on a postage stamp lot and under 2000 sq ft. So what do people do who just can't afford $6000 per month in payments. Well they do a funky loan to get their payment to something they can afford like 2k per month while hoping their crappy 750k house goes up to 900k, but BAM! It drops 33% and the interest drives their payments past what they make in a month. Now they can't sell and they can't keep so the only thing to do is default.

Not everyone is the stereo type that people think they are.

I've been seeing the signs of this for several years already.....on the street where my Dad's house sits, there are 5 to 6 empty houses, some have been for sale for 3 to 4 years now......and those few that have sold have been repossessed and are empty again!!

Originally posted by frayed1
I've been seeing the signs of this for several years already.....on the street where my Dad's house sits, there are 5 to 6 empty houses, some have been for sale for 3 to 4 years now......and those few that have sold have been repossessed and are empty again!!

I'm not sure where you live but it is just crazy to see a middle income famly house for over $300 and places like California double that. Those are not middle income prices by far.

reply to post by Xtrozero


I'm just 60 miles north of Atlanta, in the creeping fringe of the metro area......but not quite the metro A prices. Here you will see 'starter homes' in the low to mid 100's....or less. My Father-in-law's house, built in the mid 1950's, 3br, 2 bath, central a/h, den with brick fireplace, hardwood floors, went for barely 70K....

Here's a link to some hometown info.....
www.epodunk.com...
www.epodunk.com...