We’ve seen many bubbles over the last 2 years and we’re really starting to see the bubble pop in regard to the housing market. When buyers can’t get financing that means there are fewer buyers to drive up prices. I’ve been watching my local market pretty closely here in Portland, and while house prices have not dropped the whopping 40-50% that other areas of the country has seen, we’re starting to see them slip.
House Prices are Down - big time!
Housing prices dropped in February at the fastest rate ever, a widely watched index showed on Tuesday, reflecting that the housing slump is gaining momentum and showing no signs of letting up.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities fell by 12.7 percent in February versus last year, the largest decline since its inception in 2001. Seventeen of the 20 metro areas reported record annual declines.
The index dropped 10.7 percent in January and 9.1 percent in December.
“There is no sign of a bottom in the numbers,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, noting that all 20 metro areas have declined for six straight months.
Foreclosures are Up - big time!
The number of U.S. homes heading toward foreclosure more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier, as weakening property values and tighter lending left many homeowners powerless to prevent homes from being auctioned to the highest bidder, a research firm said Monday.
Among the hardest hit states were Nevada, Florida and, in particular, California, where Stockton led the nation with a foreclosure rate that was 6.6 times the national average, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said.
Nationwide, 649,917 homes received at least one foreclosure-related filing in the first three months of the year, up 112 percent from 306,722 during the same period last year, RealtyTrac said. The latest tally also represents an increase of 23 percent from the fourth quarter of last year. RealtyTrac monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
All told, one in every 194 households received a foreclosure filing during the quarter. Foreclosure filings increased in all but four states.
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