The Prices of Homes Fall in Twenty Two Cities in the U.S.

Posted on May 12th, 2008 by saman

A report has shown that home prices in twenty two cities in the United States fell in the month of February. The cities of Las Vegas and Sacramento led the drop in home prices. This report come as a record number of foreclosures has deepened the housing problem. The number of new foreclosures hit a record high at the end of last year as home owners with adjustable loans walk away from their homes before their mortgage payments increased. The average price of non new homes dropped about seven percent from last year.

The report shows that there are many weaknesses in the majority of most markets. The climbing numbers of foreclosures that are happening throughout the country have created a new supply of houses. There are also very motivated sellers who are more interested in getting rid of their home than getting a good price for it.

The number of foreclosures in the United States has doubled in the first quarter of this year as payments for subprime mortgages have risen and the drop in home prices has left homeowners unable to refinance or sell their homes without losing money.

In California, almost six hundred families were in a state of foreclosure during the first quarter of this year. This is one in every one hundred and ninety four houses in the United States. This number is one hundred and twelve percent higher than last year.

The sales of single-family homes in California dropped twenty five percent in the month of March. In Nevada, non new home sales fell about forty four percent in the fourth quarter of last year.

San Diego has the third worst market within the United States. Prices of homes have dropped about twenty four percent. Phoenix was the first worse market with a decrease of nineteen percent. Los Angeles was the fifth worse market in the United stated with a nineteen percent drop.

Miami had a seventeen percent drop in home sales while Tamp had a drop of sixteen percent. In San Francisco the housing market slumped about fourteen percent.

There were three areas that actually saw an increase in housing sales in February. In Charlotte, North Carolina, home sales increased about three percent. This is the biggest increased in the twenty five cities that were surveyed. Milwaukee had a gain of three percent and New York had a gain of one percent.

Twenty areas in the report had an increase in home sales in February. Ten markets in Cleveland and San Francisco showed an increase in home prices between January and February.

Experts say that it is much too early to say that these figures mean that the housing market is beginning to turn around. They also say that it is not wise to believe that the market is a complete mess either.

About eighteen million homes in the United States were empty during the first quarter of this year. This is due to a large number of lenders taking back an increasing number of properties that were foreclosed on. This number is five percent higher than last year. Seventeen million properties were empty last year according to a Census report.