Housing Prices Continue to Drop Across US
8:04 am in Cost of Living, Real Estate by Jane in Redondo
October 5, 2006 Wall Street Journal reported that 100 U.S. cities including 20 metro areas will experience housing price declines over the next few years. The source came from Moody’s Economy.com Inc., and predicted that housing prices may continue falling through 2008. This trend, combined with the statistics from U.S. Census Bureau that homeowners last year spent at least 30% of their household income on housing costs (loan payments, real-estate taxes, insurance and utilities), will put a squeeze on homeowners, especially those whose income is already stretched thin. This also means home buyers are more likely to continue to sit and wait for more favorable bargaining conditions.
Most studies agreed that biggest risks of declines are occurring in California and Florida. Wall Street Journal published this graphic from Moody’s data (see below.)
