Home-Price Declines Accelerate The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, show price declines continued to worsen in May, with every region measured showing year-over-year drops for the second straight month. According to the indices, home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas fell by a record 17% from a year earlier and 1% from April. In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped 16% from a year earlier -- another record drop -- and 0.9% from April. (...) Year-over-year, Las Vegas and Miami were again the weakest markets, each posting 28% declines. They were also the worst performers month-to-month, with Las Vegas down 2.9% and Miami dropping 3.6%. David M. Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's index committee, noted home prices have been dropping by the indices' measurements since August 2006. As prices swoon in the Sun Belt, where they had surged the most during the bubble, he noted the Northeast is "cyclical but less volatile" and the Midwest is facing "difficult local economies."
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, show price declines continued to worsen in May, with every region measured showing year-over-year drops for the second straight month.
According to the indices, home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas fell by a record 17% from a year earlier and 1% from April. In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped 16% from a year earlier -- another record drop -- and 0.9% from April.
(...)
Year-over-year, Las Vegas and Miami were again the weakest markets, each posting 28% declines. They were also the worst performers month-to-month, with Las Vegas down 2.9% and Miami dropping 3.6%.
David M. Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's index committee, noted home prices have been dropping by the indices' measurements since August 2006. As prices swoon in the Sun Belt, where they had surged the most during the bubble, he noted the Northeast is "cyclical but less volatile" and the Midwest is facing "difficult local economies."
The US market is deeply afflicted with over-supply and the property market may have a long way to fall, especially if the recession leads to substantial layoffs.
Conversely the UK seems to have a market where prices drop but property remains unaffordable due to the tightening of credit rules, ie a return to some kind of fiscal common sense.
Yet there remains considerable demand in the UK due to considerable under-supply. Unfortunately most of this has been in executive style houses which may maximise the revenues of the builders, but actually fail to address where the demand exists in the market, which is for cheap starter homes for the low waged.
Of course, in the past this demand would have been met by the use of low rent local authority managed Social housing, but the right wing parties who have (mis)ruled the UK for 30 years have rendered this common sense solution politically unacceptable. So we now have expensive houses that can't be sold because there is no demand for them and a huge demand for cheap housing that won't be built due to our enslavement to "market forces".
And gordon, you can't have "hard-working families" if they can't afford to have children cos they haven't got somewhere decent to live. keep to the Fen Causeway
