"I'm not as think as you drunk I am."
Posted on 05/31/2011 1:21:02 PM PDT by Signalman
U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by inventory and weak demand, a closely watched survey said Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.2 percent in March from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, in line with economists' expectations.
The price index was below the low seen in April 2009 during the financial crisis. The glut of houses for sale, foreclosures, tight credit and weak demand have kept the housing market on the ropes even as other areas of the economy start to recover.
The 20-city composite index was at 138.16, falling below the 2009 low of 139.26.
"This month's report is marked by the confirmation of a double-dip in home prices across much of the nation," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, said in a statement. "Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight."
Eight cities fell 1 percent or more in March, while Washington was the only city where prices increased on both a monthly and yearly basis. Prices in the 20 cities fell 3.6 percent year over year, topping expectations for a decline of 3.3 percent.
"The declines sustained in the last 12 months have almost erased the gains of the previous 12 months. The housing market is treading backward, but not drowning," said Cary Leahey, economist and managing director at Decision Economics in New York.
In the first quarter, the national index fell 1.9 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared to a decline of 1.8 percent in the previous quarter. On a non-adjusted basis, they fell by 4.2 percent in the quarter. Nationally, home prices are back to their mid-2002 levels, the report said.
Blitzer told CNBC that the decline in prices, though fairly widespread, has become more prevalent in geographic pockets—the Southwest and Southeast as well as the Michigan and Ohio manufacturing regions.
"What we've seen over the last few months despite the decline in prices is we've gone back to the old 'location, location, location' story instead of everything going down at once," he said. "California has clearly broken out of the pattern it was in, which is a big plus."
Though there had been hopes in the industry that prices were troughing and ready to turn higher, the latest trends show little hope in sight until later this year or early in 2012, he added.
"Everybody's now keeping their fingers crossed for 2012 and wondering whether people just don't want to own homes anymore," he said.
On a non-adjusted basis, they fell by 4.2 percent in the quarter.
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Drink up!
Obamaville
They do want to own homes
Homes they CAN afford (2.5xincome)
With property taxes they can afford
We still have a LONG way to go...
If the expectation is that the house purchased today will be worth less next year, why would anyone buy a house today?
I should be more trusting of FR.
Every time I see one of these “unexpected” variants, I have to check whether the headline is real. They always are!
I don’t know why, but it’s always surprising to me that journalists are so unexpectedly lacking in creativity.
Completely unexpected!
Another event of unexpected proportions!
“U.S. single-family home prices dropped in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market remained bogged down by the Assclown in the White House”.....
Low prices are a boon to people that have money. If you have a 401K and are older than 57-1/2 years you can cash out with no penalty and purchase a house for a song. The price tag has nothing to do with what they will sell for. Make a low ball offer on a house that has been on the market for several months and you just might get it. Everybody is looking for cash if you got it you are the king. Get into the land lord business or contract a property management service to take care of it for you, NOW is the time. It may go lower but there are no guarantees.
What you want are small starter homes, three bedroom 1 or 1-1/2 baths. Rents, depending where you are go from $600 to $1200 a month. A few of those would help your retirement and give you something to do. The tax benefits are pretty good too.
In my son’s case because it is cheaper than rent.
I would hate to be a landlord in todays job market, let alone the culture of destruction, not to mention property taxes going much higher.
Bernanke’s economic strategy was to goose the economy by re-inflating the housing market. So what do we have now - inflation everywhere except for the housing market. There we have falling prices. Kudos to Ben on doing what even Jimmy Carter could not accomplish.
but the obama mortgage modification program was going to save the residential market!!!
(/s)
I remember the good old days when Bush was in office when only things like drops in the unemployment levels were “Unexpected”, and always had a “But” such as “Unemployment unexpectedly dropped below 5%, but they are mostly McJobs”.
That's the reasoning that powers the deflationary spiral. No one wants to say the word, but that is what is happening. The problem is that there is no logical bottom, and no obvious way to stop it.
"I'm not as think as you drunk I am."
I think there is a perception out there that housing prices will someday regain their former value, and all will be well. But that ignores the fact that housing prices inflated like a Thanksgiving Day parade balloon over a period of years and in reality are only now returning to a more realistic market value.
We are essentially back to 2002 values and I doubt we will ever see the kind of inflation in housing again, because there will not be another frenzy of lending based on imaginary “equity”. It also means that the housing market was significantly over-built in some areas and many of those vacant foreclosed properties will likely never be sold at any price.
I’ve also read that there could be as many as 5 million more foreclosures to come......do the math on that....
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