Home Prices Post Record Drop; Foreclosures to Blame?

As foreclosure homes for sales clog the market, much of the movement in the real estate sales sector centers around moving this inventory. As explained in the CNN.com article, Record drop in home price index:

The nation is grappling with historically high foreclosure rates, . . . Much of the [real estate] sales traffic is in foreclosure inventory, which may be skewing price statistics downward because distressed properties are often in poor condition.

Cities With the Biggest Home Price Drop

Phoenix logged a 48.5 percent drop;
Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco and San Diego each logged drops of over 40% from their all-time highs; and
Denver and Cleveland drop just over 5%.

Cleveland was a surprise, as this manufacturing city has shed many jobs, which brings us to the underlying problem prolonging the foreclosure crisis — job losses.

It’s practically impossible to talk about the foreclosure industry without talking about job losses. In spite of the glimmer of good economic news recently, the economy is still shedding jobs. This means that more foreclosures may be on the way, which has many wondering, “Where is the bottom? When will the foreclosure crisis end?”

Unfortunately, no one seems to know.

Wondering about where your state ranks in the foreclosure crisis? You’re not alone. Find state-by-state foreclosure rates, as well as state-by-state unemployment rates.

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