Home Prices Fall in 24 U.S. Cities on Foreclosures; Las Vegas Hit Hardest

[marmar]

Metro U.S. Home Prices Fall on Higher Foreclosures (Update1)

By Sharon L. Lynch


Oct. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices dropped in 24 of 25 U.S. metropolitan areas in July from a year earlier, led by declines in Las Vegas and the coastal cities of California, as foreclosures depressed property prices.

Las Vegas had the biggest drop on a per-square foot basis, falling 33 percent, New York-based real estate data company Radar Logic Inc. said in a report today. Los Angeles, Phoenix, Sacramento and San Francisco each dropped about 28 percent. Three of the five worst-performing markets were in California.

``Buyers are increasingly reluctant,'' Radar Logic Chief Executive Officer Michael Feder said in an interview. ``There has been an awful lot of talk about the declining of the housing markets.''

U.S. foreclosures rose to a record 2.75 percent of all mortgages in the second quarter, according to the Washington- based Mortgage Bankers Association. Foreclosed houses tend to sell at a discount of about 20 percent, according to research by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Those discounts are weighing on prices throughout the country, Radar Logic said.

The U.S. Senate passed a $700 billion financial-market rescue package yesterday loaded with inducements for the House of Representatives to approve the measure. The House rejected an earlier version.

`Dramatic Impact'

The legislation, approved last night on a 74-25 vote, authorizes the government to buy troubled assets from financial institutions rocked by record home foreclosures. It contains two provisions favored by House Republicans: One raises the limit on federal bank-deposit insurance; the other reiterates the authority of securities regulators to suspend asset-valuing rules that corporate executives blame for fueling the crisis. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aTiVFv29og1s&refer=home

[Skidmore]

1. Home prices have needed to fall in a lot of areas for quite a while now.

Whole families have been priced out of owning or even renting good housing in some areas. When your income never changes and housing prices spiral forever upward it is a lose-lose.

Frankly, our whole nation needs to adjust this expectation that everyone can live the lives of the rich and famous while making pauper's wages.

[RainDog]

2. Lost Vegas has been the center of real estate spec. too

and has driven up prices so high that people cannot afford to live where they work. same in parts of CA.