Home prices fall to 8-year lows

http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/29/real_estate/home_prices/index.htm?iid=HP_LN

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Home prices continued to sink in the third quarter, falling to levels not seen since early 2003.

Home prices dropped 3.9% year-over-year during the three months ended Sept. 30, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index. On a quarterly basis, prices were slightly higher, squeezing out a 0.1% gain.

One bright spot was that the declines have started to slow. During the second quarter, prices were down 5.8% year-over-year.

"Any chance for a sustained recovery will probably need a stronger economy," said David Blitzer, a spokesman for S&P.

more at link...

And, prices never dropped here. Increases slowed, but for the most part, I haven't seen any decreases, other than houses that were priced too high in the first place.

In many places, houses were grossly over-priced to begin with. When my folks bought their house in Phoenix in the early 1990s, they paid around $150K for it. Around 2004, they could have sold that place for $850K. That was before they slapped up whole neighborhoods of equally over-priced houses, creating a glut. If they decided to sell now, the houses in their neighborhood are going for around $400K, which is still over-priced, IMO. This has been going on pretty much everywhere, and it shouldn't be surprising that housing prices are slumping. It's unfortunate for those who bought at the peak of the boom, but a lot of what we are seeing is houses dropping down to the prices they should have been in the first place. Now, if only the damn banks would start giving mortgages.

a friend of mine is a realtor and she says no one is getting their original asking price for the last year or two.