Its looks like its going to get ugly out there..

[bparker]

http://www.usatoday.com/money/econom...-october_N.htm

By Noelle Knox, USA TODAY
Home prices in 11 large metro areas posted record declines in October, according to data released Wednesday, more evidence that 2007 was one of the worst real estate markets since the year the United States entered World War II.
Reflecting tighter lending standards and a huge number of homes for sale, the S&P/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 cities slid 6.1% compared with October of last year, led by Miami, Tampa, Detroit and San Diego.
Prices in Atlanta and Dallas dipped for the first time during the current downturn. This was the 10th month in a row that the index has shown negative annual price comparisons, and the results are getting worse. The index was down 1.4% from September to October.
"When was the last time we had a bigger drop than this? It looks like 1941," Robert Shiller, economics professor at Yale University and co-developer of the index, said in an interview.
Before Pearl Harbor was bombed on Dec. 7, "The U.S. wasn't in the war yet, but it sure looked bad. Hitler was raging in Europe. ? You didn't want to be buying a house then."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: Miami | October | Mortgage | Today | Ron Shuffield | Shiller
Today, the primary force behind the real estate recession is the almost year's supply of homes for sale. Many are being heavily discounted by builders, speculators and lenders who have become owners through foreclosure.
Shiller said he expects prices to fall another 5% to 7% next year.
While it's clearly a buyers' market, demand is being constrained by mortgage lenders, who got burned by their own reckless lending of recent years. Now, home shoppers with a poor record for paying bills on time and little saved for a down payment are having serious difficulty getting a loan.
"A lot of (buyers) haven't come to the realization that the subprime market no longer exists," said Ritch Workman of Workman Mortgage in Melbourne, Fla. "Mortgage brokers are turning away more and more borrowers."
Anyone with a credit score below 620, which is subprime territory, he said, "will pay through the nose" to get a mortgage.
In areas where home prices are falling, it's impossible to get a loan for 100% of the purchase price, unless the buyer can qualify for a loan from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Most lenders now require at least a 5% down payment, Workman said.
Home prices rose in just three of the 20 cities in the Case-Shiller index in October: Charlotte; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle. But Patrick Newport, U.S. economist for Global Insight, said he expects prices in Seattle and Portland will turn down by the end of the year.
In Miami, where prices fell 12.4%, Ron Shuffield advises sellers to wait if they don't have to sell now.
There are a lot of buyers in the market, said Shuffield, president of Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell Realtors, and with "a little extra research and effort, there are certainly some very, very good deals out there to be had today. You can find deals you could not have found a year ago, or even three months ago."

[DRTYFN]

Trying to make a killing on sub-prime loans is going to give a lot of greedy bastards size 18 buttholes.

[KenP]

Would love to buy, but can't probably can't sell.

[ssgharkness020147]

Originally Posted by KenP

Would love to buy, but can't probably can't sell.

X2

[bparker]

I am surprised to see Dallas dip, as it has been a very stable conservative affordable market. And to see it dip really concerns me. Just a few months ago, it was reported that Dallas was one of the still "undervalued" cities which would benefit from populaiton growth/expansion due to other people fleeing falling markets.

Now to see it on the down turn means (to me) that the over all market is really going to take a huge dump.

[wpage]

The adjustment in the NE region is simply getting where it should be B4 it had its huge run up over the last several years...

[Yetti]

I have been watching the Market for two years now. the majority of stuff thats going bad up here is based on the fact the Jobs bailed out of our state. if the jobs were here the people would be. right now I am seeing houses in the $1,000,000+ range going into forcloseure. its amazing what people just walk away from. the biggest areas of concern that I have seen are the people moving out and headed to Florida & Texas. I was informed by a realtor that those states do not inforce wage garnishes. so the people that got the 120% of the homes value in cash headed to places like that to start over with cash in hand.

right now in Oakland county alone there is something like 1800 forclosed homes. its just getting worse too.

[BKLYNH2]

Don't worry most of us still probably couldn't afford a decent size apt. in Manhattan. Since teh dollar is sucking everyone from elsewhere is buying up the place.

[Yetti]

They can have it. I have no need for anything past the Ohio line at this point.

[mikejr]

I wish the media would just clam up about the housing crisis. The problem is, they are painting the entire county with a broad brush. Yes there certainly are areas of the country that have seen home values decline 40% or more and home sales decline a similar amount.

BUT what they aren't reporting is areas like Western PA have only seen sales decline 4%....and values something less than that.

Being a real estate broker, I get questions and comments daily from people wondering how we are making a living being that we're in real estate.

Well let me tell you this....2007 is our BEST year on record by about 20%.

Has the sub prime debacle caused issues...sure it has....its harder to get people financed, but, they were financing people that should never have been financed. Stories of people buying a house and never making a payment are very common around here. But in true American Capitalism, where there is a need, someone will fill it. So I would expect to see someone stepping in on void left in the subprime market.

[Agriv8r]

no matter what, there is always someone wanting to buy and someone wanting to sell....

[wpage]

Originally Posted by Agriv8r

no matter what, there is always someone wanting to buy and someone wanting to sell....

That is true. And markets move with times

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

for sale

2 homes in Miami

price reduced 12.4%

[mikejr]

Originally Posted by Agriv8r

no matter what, there is always someone wanting to buy and someone wanting to sell....

thank god for that!....keeps food on the table and fuel in the Hummer!

[Yetti]

Originally Posted by RubHer Yellow Ducky

for sale

2 homes in Miami

price reduced 12.4%

being from the north how much Spanish do you need to know to get around down there? I haven't been in Miami since `72

[bparker]

Thats very encouraging to hear coming from someone in the business. I know you cant take the medias reports for 100% truth or an real world accutate picture. However, one has to worry when you start seeing stats on the market to help tell the story.

Maybe the market corrections are in fact isolated bubbles and wont hit the more stable areas that have been somewhat unaffected by maintaing reasonable prices.

Its a personal concern of mine as we are thinking about selling and moving a bit out of the city into the country and need to know if we need to sell while our appreciation is at its highest if the market is going to turn down on us in our area.

Originally Posted by mikejr

I wish the media would just clam up about the housing crisis. The problem is, they are painting the entire county with a broad brush. Yes there certainly are areas of the country that have seen home values decline 40% or more and home sales decline a similar amount.

BUT what they aren't reporting is areas like Western PA have only seen sales decline 4%....and values something less than that.

Being a real estate broker, I get questions and comments daily from people wondering how we are making a living being that we're in real estate.

Well let me tell you this....2007 is our BEST year on record by about 20%.

Has the sub prime debacle caused issues...sure it has....its harder to get people financed, but, they were financing people that should never have been financed. Stories of people buying a house and never making a payment are very common around here. But in true American Capitalism, where there is a need, someone will fill it. So I would expect to see someone stepping in on void left in the subprime market.

[RubHer Yellow Ducky]

Originally Posted by Yetti

being from the north how much Spanish do you need to know to get around down there? I haven't been in Miami since `72

I speak NO spanish !!! nor do i plan on learning it !!!!!

If I had a business here I would make sure that I had some spanish speaking employees on staff unless it was a restaurantcatering to Americans...