Are we at the beginning of the end of the housing slump?

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

In Manhattan, once a fortress against national real estate prices, Barron’s finds median home price data increasingly skewed. Luxury, multi-million dollar apartments-- which account for 5% of the market-- are selling well. Particularly in high profile buildings like the refurbished Plaza Hotel and 15 Central Park West. But middle-to-low-end apartments are being reduced, and could go down further. In Q1, Manhattan apartments sold for 97.5% of their original asking price on average. Inventory is rising and an online brokerage tracker has seen numerous 5%+ price cuts since May. Expected financial firm layoffs and significantly tighter lending standards could make things even worse.

...

Since NYC’s economic troubles generally lag the nation’s, some see its decline as an indication that the national housing slump has begun its final phase.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/81407-nyc-...cracks-barron-s

[stuck_in_manila 0]

interesting notion....

however, while some economists are the saying the same thing, there are still a few naysayers, saying the continued spike of global oil prices may derail improvements in the housing sector....

i'm not an economist, but their argument does make sense. afterall, everything's interrelated.

[dalegg 143]

Seems to me this housing "meltdown" is really just sort of a correction anyways. Take my City of Garden Grove, CA-

Currently, the median home price is $399,992.

Yes, it's down from quite a lot from $530,000 in 2005, but it's still higher than 2002 when I purchased my home, and when you consider that

8 years ago in 2000 it was only $199,700, so it's double what it was. And I can assure you that 8 years prior (1992) it was not half of what it was in 2000. In fact if memory serves me correctly it was exactly the same from about 1993 to 2001.

So, if you could draw a trend line from 1992 to 2008 it would still look like a pretty steap increase, In fact, despite several raises I've gotten since 2002 when I moved here, it would be very difficult for me to purchase the very home I am now living in today. To me, we are still way up. I say that completely ignorant of the rest of the country though.