Dips Turns and Flips of the Market

Anybody who hasn't been living in a cave over the past 2 years realizes that we continue to be in a decling real estate market. Of course, Hampton Roads isn't alone in this downward spiral of home values. According to Susan Wachter, a professor in The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, 40 states saw housing prices decline between 2006 and 2009. During a June presentation in Norfolk, she noted that California saw a drop of 36 percent, Florida 37 percent and Nevada 49 percent. Fortunately for the Old Dominion state, only 5 to 10 percent decrease during the same three year period.

THE FACTS:

--In the third quater of 2009, 4 million loans were in foreclosure. Four years earlier, only a half of a million faced that agony.

--About 300,000 homeowners go into default every month.

--In 2006, 50 percent of housing prices were overvalued.

--The number of defaults, including people who were 30 days late paying their mortgage, was 7.89 million.

--Many homeowners have negative equity as a result of falling home prices, increasing the likelihood that many of them will default; as many as 5 million homes.

--The inventory of existing homes for sale in the country was 3.6 million as of March, which is equal to an EIGHT and a half month's supply.

I wish I had better news.....