HOME PRICES PLUMMETING

The Austin American Statesman | 01 February 2003 | Shonda Novak

[Torie]

The house below just sold in three days at the listing price of $749,000. It is located in Orange County, California. It has 2556 square feet and a decent view. The lot width is only 45 feet though. The back yard is about 30 feet deep

[coloradan]

FYI

[the gillman@blacklagoon.com]

I've been pestering my wife for the last few years to sell all our properties and vanish. She's finally agreed to sell in the spring but I think we're about to drop like a rock.
I'm in northern Rhode Island. We're not getting the people fleeing the high priced Boston market anymore.

I hope I don't have to wait this out. Not sure there will be a recovery for years.

[LS]

No, exactly the opposite here in Southern Ohio, where my wife keeps pretty good tabs on the home prices in the south Dayton-to-northern Cincinnati area. Our home prices have revived by about 2-3%.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Housing prices in my area increased by about 20% in the last year.

Where is YOUR AREA?

[Lizavetta]

I live in the Sierra Foothills in California. I've been told by local realtors that the Bay Area bubble is over and sellers are having to cut their asking prices by $100,000. At the same time, city dwellers and valley people are coming up my way. Inventory is very low and prices are rising.

We'd like to bolt someday to a lower taxed area with decent weather....any ideas?

[Rollee]

I hope the war is quick, the evildoers killed (with their heads on sticks for us all to see) and the markets ease up. Consumer confidence will come back, I think.

[Brasky]

The area I live is suburban Chicago. Elmhurst, where median income according to the last census was $75,000. The city is an older town, dating to 1850. Some homes are pre-ww2, and alot of post ww2 typical tract homes. They are being torn down in favor of building 3000+ sq. ft. homes. Until last year these homes were being built on spec. And selling fast. Alot of the same type homes are now sitting empty. The price of these...700,000 to 1.7 million. My first home I bought for 160,000 in 1999 and sold last august for 250,000. I bought a home in the same area for 340,000. Dont think this is a mansion-it isnt. 2500 sq.ft Its now worth about 400,000. , after a kitchen remodeling and other such improvements. The market is still tight, taking longer to sell but the cost of living in chicago area is higher than anywhere in the midwest.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

The lot width is only 45 feet though. The back yard is about 30 feet deep.

Oh wow!

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

Not sure there will be a recovery for years.

I'm beginning to wonder about that also...hard to find truthful information anymore. Everyone has an agenda...so won't tell the truth about what is ACTUALLY happening.The closest we get to the truth is here on Free Republic...and even then one must be careful and do a lot of D&D.

[quebecois]

The real estate market is the next great bubble to burst. A lot of folks who were depending on selling their houses in a few years to retire will be crying (doubly so since the stock market bubble probably wiped out their 401k)

[Mulder]

We'd like to bolt someday to a lower taxed area with decent weather....any ideas?

If you're looking for low property taxes, it's hard to beat New Mexico, although their state income taxes are very high.

I've considered buying some land in northern New Mexico, but am a little reluctant because of the immigration problems out there.

[babaloo999]

I don't know about Houston, but you can compare the Austin housing market to the stock market.
It was way overvalued/overpriced and now it's coming back down to more realistic levels.
I always said Austin was a little piece of California here in Texas, and in the 90's the the housing prices made it
even more comparable.

[Torie]

Here is a nice little bread and butter house in Foster City, California, located about 10 miles south of the San Francisco Airport. It lists for $995,000. It has 1800 square feet.

[Mulder]

The real estate market is the next great bubble to burst.

The only thing holding up the real estate market right now is the fact that folks who lost a lot in the stock market have been shifting assets over into the housing market.

The only think holding up the economy is people refinancing their homes to by more goodies.

When the housing market goes tits up, it will be ugly.

I don't think it will be apocolyptic(sp?), as some places won't get hit as hard as others.

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

We'd like to bolt someday to a lower taxed area with decent weather....any ideas?

I'd sure leave California. Not really...depends on what you do for a living. Housing prices VERY reasonable if you take your time in Middle Tennessee. However, getting a job is nearly impossible...thus the lower prices. Same thing in rural Mississippi. Where a job market exists, housing is disproportionately higher. Real estate agents may be a large part of the problem (flame shields up).

[mickie]

Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Pa.........market is still strong.

[BJungNan]

The house below just sold in three days at the listing price of $749,000. It is located in Orange County, California. It has 2556 square feet and a decent view. The lot width is only 45 feet though. The back yard is about 30 feet deep

There are plenty of stupid buyers.

[Porterville]

Austin?? The only thing good about Austin is UT, and the fact that it is closer to San Antonio then Dallas. Really, what do you expect after the software crash??

[MeneMeneTekelUpharsin]

The only thing holding up the real estate market right now is the fact that folks who lost a lot in the stock market have been shifting assets over into the housing market.

I would tend to agree that this is taking place. Also, lower interest rates. However, that too has to end sometime.