Home Prices Falling in Most Major US Cities: Case-Shiller
Home prices are falling in most major U.S. cities, and the average prices in four of them are at their lowest point in 11 years.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index shows price declines in 19 cities from December to January. Eleven of them are at their lowest level since the housing bust.
Home values in Atlanta, Las Vegas, Detroit and Cleveland are now below January 2000 levels.
The only market where prices rose was Washington, where homes prices gained 0.1 percent month over month. The nation's capital has outperformed every other city in the index. Prices there are up 3.6 percent year over year.
The data coming out on real estate is still anything but positive. Prices heading down and across the board. There still seems to be too much uncertainty clouding the real estate market:
1. We have slack demand, supply, supply, supply, and shadow inventory. The Main Street economy is still not growing fast enough to provide jobs.
2. A foreclosure process and nightmare no where near resolved and tightening lending standards.
3. We are heading right for municipal budget resolution this summer, which almost guarantees layoffs, salary cuts, elimination of services, and/or higher taxes. None of which are good for incomes nor real estate affordability.
If something doesn't change the dynamics behind real estate we could easily push the U.S. closer to Critical Mass later this year or next.
Hope all is well.
J.D. Rosendahl, Rosey