[ex-Texan]

This is reality today. Prices are already down in some Florida areas by as much as 44%. The west coast is next. Just wait until next year. Yada, Yada, Yada For all the naysayers out there: "Nothing to see here. Not in my neck of the woods. Time to move on."

[aft_lizard]

Yikes how would you like to pay a $400,000 mortgage on a $200,000 home.

[ex-Texan]

*Ping* !

[the invisib1e hand]

yeah. well, as I posted elsewhere, a big drop isn't the whole story. The whole story includes the bigger rise that has been going on for a decade, especially in Florida.

Let's be real. A 44% drop after a 400% increase still leaves with a pretty good run.

[goldstategop]

The reported massive insurance premium hikes have scared the bejeebers out of buyers. Expect prices to keep plunging as no one is buying now.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[Richard Kimball]

Good article. It's going to be a fairly big correction. Personally, I thought the bubble was about to burst when all the shows like "Flip this House" came out. Whenever a trend gets big enough that the general public starts getting involved, it's not a good deal anymore.

I was reading where speculators were a significant portion of the California housing market, and I figured once they got out, the market would correct to reasonable levels. Depending on how much it affects other markets, it could be a chance for people to get into houses at good prices. I went through a local boom bust in Austin in the eighties, and some guys I knew ended up trying to rent out a house they were paying $1200 a month on for $650 just to keep from having it foreclosed. It's going to be an interesting ride.

[Cicero]

Florida is one of the worst markets because there was a lot of heavy speculation and condo flipping. But real estate prices are taking a hit all over.

We sold our second home in Maine a year and a half ago, after being in it for 40 years and raising all our children in it. But it was getting too expensive to keep up and the handwriting for real estate was on the wall.

Last summer when I ran into our local real estate agent who handled the deal, he said that 2005 was his best ever for commissions, but that this year business is dismal.

[HostileTerritory]

That 44% drop in one market was a distortion caused by Hurricane Wilma last year. But the numbers are pretty bad, otherwise.

[Moonman62]

A story about people getting price breaks on $800,000 homes. We're doomed, the soup lines are next.

[hinckley buzzard]

44 percent decline in median sales price, from $445,100 to $249,200,

And in the distance, the faint but unmistakeable sound of a bubble popping...

[nicolezmomma]

44 Percent? I'm not sure you could give away some of the homes that have been for sale at least 6 months here in Pinellas County, Florida. Ok, a slight exaggeration, but not much. Crist is going to have a hell of a year as the new Governor.

[Always Right]

[Florida Prices Drop 44% from 2005]

Why do you have to lie about what the story says. Only one county showed that drop, not the whole state. You can NEVER present anything honestly.

[TheLion]

Location, location, location. While sales have slowed around where I live, we aren't seeing 44% declines in value or even anything close to that. Florida is a special case.

[Steely Tom]

Me and the missus are packin' the car right now. Gonna head on down to Flori-day, get us a sweet deal on a house used ta cost $800,000! Course, every few years there's a hurrican' comes through, blows the whole she-bang out into the ocean, but what the heck, and it sure is sunny down there!

I hear in-surance is a little steep down there, though.

[uncbob]

Bout damn time

This all started back under Carter with the dopes bought homes with 16% interest rates causing the monthly payments to go up

When the rates came down the builders figured what the hell they can make those big payments and they jacked the prices up to keep the monthly payments the same on new homes etc

Builders made out like bandits

Price of homes is ridiculous

[cajungirl]

can a homeowner get insurance for reasonable price?

[org.whodat]

Wrong there is plenty of money to be made in selling homes. Start selling price reduced signs.

[Fierce Allegiance]

A 44% drop on any home owned more than a year is still likely to be quite profitable.

Good try, mr Doom & Gloom, keep it up! You are shooting blanks, chumpy!

[ItisaReligionofPeace]

Things in my neck of the woods (North Florida) have certainly slowed down, but there are certainly not drops that are mentioned in the article.

[Popman]

I lived in Sarasota for seven years, currently live near Tampa.

Homes are off 18% in Sarasota.

BIG FREAKING deal.

The rise in the price of homes in Sarasota for several years SERIOUSLY out paced the rest of the state and nation.

Big Clue. The housing market in Sarasota was way over priced.

The house I sold in 2001 sold for 25% more than I bought it five years earlier. Now that house sells for 300% more than I sold it for five years later.

Prices aren't way off, they are getting back to normal

[sarasmom]

LOL!

Never a good idea to "invest" right before the pyramid bottoms out!
Serves them (the get-rich-quick-with-no-real-effort property speculators) right, and I hope "they" all lose everything they ever "gained", and then some!

Just like all the dotcom "investors".

Oh sure, I will invest my life savings in a corporation that has no income except stock sales, has no actual product to sell, except the very irritating to any potential customers the universally ignored "potential" advertising revenue, and pays their employees exorbitant salaries for enjoying "expressing their creativity while not actually working".

Oh well! Either my current landlord will pro actively reduce my rent significantly, in order to retain a decent tenant, or I move next summer to much nicer accommodations at greatly reduced rates!