The real estate bubble has certainly burst.Any buyer or seller of real estate understands the dramatic change in prices.For purchasers it is opportunities.For Sellers, it is the drop in worth. Currently, the US Congress and President Obama is trying to determine how to best stop the bleeding which saw over 75,000 job layoffs on Monday which directly impinges upon the real estate market.
According to excerpts from data through November 2008, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its “S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the United States, with 11 of the 20 metro areas showing record rates of annual decline, and 14 reporting declines in excess of 10% versus November 2007.
“The 10-City Composite matched last month’s record decline of 19.1% and the 20-City Composites set a new record, down 18.2%.
“The freefall in residential real estate continued through November 2008,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “Since August 2006, the 10-City and 20-City Composites have declined every month – a total of 28 consecutive months. Every region was down in excess of 1% for the November/October period, with eight of the regions recording record monthly declines. Phoenix and Las Vegas were the worst performers for the month at -3.4% and -3.3
Monthly data also continues to show a housing market in decline. All 20 metro areas, and the two composites, posted their third consecutive monthly decline. In addition, eight of the MSAs posted their largest monthly decline on record – Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, New York, Portland and Seattle. Although in decline over the past few years, some of these regions have out-performed on a relative basis, when compared to the national average. It is clear, however, that the decline in home prices is affecting all regions regardless of geography or employment opportunities.
Dallas and Denver faired the best in November, in terms of relative year-over-year returns. While in negative territory, their declines remained in low single digits of -3.3% and -4.3%, respectively.”
