America's house prices are falling even faster than during the Great Depression

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

New figures this week reveal that house prices have already fallen by more over the past 12 months than in any year during the Great Depression. The S&P/Case-Shiller national index fell by 14.1% in the year to the first quarter ... The index goes back only 20 years, but Robert Shiller, an economist at Yale University and co-inventor of the index, has compiled a version that stretches back more than a century. This shows that the latest fall in nominal prices is already much bigger than the 10.5% drop in 1932, at the worst point of the Depression.

And things are even worse than they look. In the deflationary 1930s, America's general price level was falling, so in real terms home prices declined much less than they did nominally. Today inflation is running at a brisk pace, so property prices have fallen by a staggering 18% in real terms over the past year. In nominal terms, the average home is now worth 16% less than at the peak in 2006, and the large overhang of unsold houses suggests that prices have further to fall. If so, this housing bust could well see a bigger cumulative fall in prices than the 26% real drop over the five years to 1933.

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displays...ory_id=11453745

[almaty 19]

good time to buy a house brother arijit..

[Amby 490]

my family owns 3 pretty large home construction companies in our area as well as 2 carpet stores and a concrete business. houses are being built, they're not selling, people getting new carpet has dropped significantly, concrete being poured for foundations or pools has dropped a large amount. last winter they had to lay off quite a few employees because they couldn't sell the houses that they were building fast enough.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Great time to buy if you don't have to sell first....

[SaadBell 0]

Just wish I was rich, I would be making a killing on all the properties in foreclosure. It makes me sad that this is happening

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Ganja girl, you don't have to be rich, just incredibly open to risk.

Check this out, on realtor.com:

$100

3 Bed, 1 Bath

1,122 Sq. Ft.

13487 HASSE ST

DETROIT, MI 48212

MLS ID# 28082273

[Ban Hammer 13,352]

Ganja girl, you don't have to be rich, just incredibly open to risk.

Check this out, on realtor.com:

$100

3 Bed, 1 Bath

1,122 Sq. Ft.

13487 HASSE ST

DETROIT, MI 48212

MLS ID# 28082273

comes with free hot and cold drive by shootings.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Like I said, you need an appetite for risk. I don't have it. Not that kind of risk.

[HAL 9000 96]

Check out all the perks being given out by new construction site people...

South Loop (Chicago) Glashaus

(price is completely ridiculous)

1 bd + den 900sf $289K

WITH 8 day Hilton Waikiki timeshare every year for life.

Still pretty silly!

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

maviwaro, the price decreases are much more prominent in the suburbs/exurbs. The cities are still holding up well. If one were looking for a nice SFH in a Jersey suburb, there are some great deals out there right now!

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Get into the short sale business!

CRE Online > How-To Articles > Using Loss Mitigation for a Real Estate Short Sale

Using Loss Mitigation for a Real Estate Short Sale

by Dwan Bent-Twyford and

Sharon Restrepo

It is virtually impossible to complete a successful short sale without dealing with the loss mitigation department at the bank. So, how do you deal with loss mitigation successfully? We can shed some light on that.

If you are new to real estate investing and wondering, "What is a short sale?" A short sale means getting the bank to accept less than what is owed as payment in full.

For example: You find a homeowner in distress who owes $100,000 on a property that is worth $100,000. What do you do? Most real estate investors walk away--unless they know how to use a short sale.

Using our short sale secrets, you get the bank to accept $55,000 as payment in full. You now have equity in a deal that had none. The homeowners are ecstatic, since they can move on with their lives, and the bank has a defaulted loan off its books. Real estate short sales are win/win for everyone.

Once you have your homeowner under control and your short sale package together, you are ready to deal with loss mitigation. When making the initial phone call to the bank, ask for the loss mitigation department.

Some customer service reps may say that the bank does not have a loss mitigation department. Keep trying! Ask if the bank has a work-out department, foreclosures department, short sale department, loan modification department, or reinstatement department.

The reason we ask for different departments is many times a new person is working the customer service phone and may have no clue what you actually want. By using a term he is familiar with, you will eventually get to the right person.

You have loss mitigation on the phone; it's time to get to work. This person will make or break your deal, so be very nice. Your initial conversation should go something like this:

"Hi, my name is [your name here], and I am calling on behalf of Bob and Sally Smith. I have an 'authorization to release information' form I'd like to fax to you. What is your fax number? Great, I'll send it right over."

http://www.creonline.com/articles/art-228.html

[eau_xplain 2]

Our bank sent us a letter stating that our Home Equity Line of credit has been lowered because our property value has gone down by 5%. I guess we should be glad that the devaluation in our property value is not that much compared to the rest of the country.

[Heracles 417]

Just got an evaluation on my houses here in Melbourne and Sydney. All I can say is suck it NYC...

[SpiritAlight 1]

Sigh, we want to sell our house in the burbs of Chicago and move into town...just rent for now.

We are probably going to do it, and not wait...maybe we can rent our house.

At a time when I wished so much that the USD was doing great, it isn't.

Reality check: what will it take for USians to see their situation as it really is?

No one will use words such as recession, or that times are not that good....etc.

Ignorance is bliss.

Edited May 30, 2008 by SpiritAlight

[Kevin and 10]

This will give you a rough estimate of house values. Sell value will be a lot lower. A house in my neighborhood sold for under 50,000 and the house is probably worth 125,000~150,000.

http://www.zillow.com/