Case-Shiller
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices are the leading measures for the US residential housing market, tracking changes in the value of residential real estate both nationally as well as in 20 metropolitan regions. The indices are calculated monthly and published with a two month lag. New index levels were released at 9am Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday. Sorry about the continued dreary news and extremely boring writing . . . that’s why I went with the nice warm weather photo above and the beautiful picture of Mt. Bachelor below.
Worse Than Expected
As Laura Gunderson of The Oregonian wrote . . . the report was worse than expected and goes on to predict that, once all data are in, 2010 will be the worst for home sales in more than a decade. Encouraging!
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index, a monthly measure of average single-family home prices in 20 cities, fell 1.3 percent in October from September and dropped .8 percent in a year-over-year comparison.
The index showed Portland among six cities — along with Seattle, Denver, Charlotte, N.C., Miami and Tampa, Fla. — that hit their lowest home prices since declines began in 2006 and 2007. For those cities, average home prices are lower than the recent lows most other markets hit in the spring of 2009, the report said.
Such numbers are taking their toll.
Sales in Oregon
At least 30 percent of home sales in the Portland area
today are short sales or foreclosures — months-long processes that nearly always mean lower commissions from fire sale prices. The number of distressed property sales is even higher in the Bend market . . . running between 50 and 60%.
“We sold a house today for $98,000 and it was livable. If it weren’t so serious, it would be funny.”
Last October, Realtors exaggerated and said that many first-time homebuyers were rushing to take advantage of tax credits that expired in November. That, they said, coupled with Oregon’s stubbornly high unemployment, may paint a more difficult picture than they see everyday in the field.
The average sale price for a home in the Bend area in October was $247,000 according to the MLS.
The National Picture
Home prices continue to drop in the nation’s largest cities and are expected to fall through the middle of 2011, as fewer people purchase homes and millions of foreclosures come on to the market.
The index, which weighs year-over-year declines, price-drop momentum and repeat home sales among other factors, does not include new construction or foreclosures.
The 20-city index has risen 4.4 percent from its April 2009 bottom. But it remains 29.6 percent below a July 2006 peak.
Each of the 20 cities tracked in the home-price index recorded monthly price declines — a sweep not seen since Feb. 2009. Experts say high unemployment and constricted credit have kept people from buying homes, even as mortgages hit some of their lowest rates in decades.
No Good News
“The double-dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since the 2006 peaks,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor’s Index Committee. “There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall.”
Atlanta recorded the largest decline with prices falling 2.9 percent from a month earlier. Home prices in Washington dropped 0.2 percent in October, the second monthly decline after five straight increases.
Some Brokers say another tax credit could boost sales and that it’s actually a good time to be a seller — if you’re also buying a home and can take advantage of the price declines and lower interest rates.
Take advantage of the plunging prices, search anonymously for homes in Bend.
