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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Home Prices Plunge Record 15.3%, Boosting Sales

Median US price was $175,400 in December, off 15.3%

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(Newser) – US home prices took an unprecedented dive in December, Bloomberg reports, with prices of existing units dropping 15.3% over the same month last year—the biggest drop on record, and probably the biggest since the Great Depression. Sales, however, unexpectedly ticked up 6.5% in December, the National Association of Realtors announced. “I don’t think it’s a clear sign of a revival in the housing market,” one analyst said.

“You have to put it in the context” of bad news the previous month, he added. “It does seem that some cheap prices are attracting buyers. The housing market is very weak.”

A placard hangs below the sale sign outside an existing home on the market in the Denver suburb of Englewood yesterday.
A placard hangs below the sale sign outside an existing home on the market in the Denver suburb of Englewood yesterday.   (AP Photo)
Signs are stacked up outside a condominium complex in which a number of units are for sale in the Denver suburb of Englewood, Nov. 26, 2008.
Signs are stacked up outside a condominium complex in which a number of units are for sale in the Denver suburb of Englewood, Nov. 26, 2008.   (AP Photo)
A reduced price sign is shown at a house for sale in Palo Alto, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008.
A reduced price sign is shown at a house for sale in Palo Alto, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008.   (AP Photo)
A sale sign stands outside an existing home lingering on the market in Westminster, Colo., on Dec. 2, 2008.
A sale sign stands outside an existing home lingering on the market in Westminster, Colo., on Dec. 2, 2008.   (AP Photo)
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radnip
Jan 27, 09 2:45 AM CST
If out of 412 home refi applications, only 17 qualify under traditional loan rules, meaning the other 395 cannot afford their homes, that's 96% who cannot have their home loans adjusted unless we just plain subsidize people's housing. If we're subsidizing people's housing, I want some too: I did not buy an overpriced home I could not afford, but hey, I COULD have! I had always heard from the real estate people that 0% loans made up 80+% of some markets in 2007, but only about 40% of all loans total. If it's more like 90+%, then we're going to really be in trouble. Reply
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