Click on my big head!
by Broderick Perkins
© 2011 DeadlineNews.Com
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Deadline Newsroom - If you are looking for somewhere to park investment money, savings or discretionary income, consider residential real estate.
Home prices are back where they were in 2002.
And if you snag a distressed property you'll get it at what amounts to a 20 percent discount off the list price of a similar, traditionally listed resale home.
One of the most watched home price indexes, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices says home prices have sunk so low buying a home today will cost you what it cost a decade ago -- or less if you swing a big negotiating stick.
S&P/Case-Shiller says it's index for single-family homes fell 5.1 percent to a new recession low in the first quarter 2011, compared to the first quarter 2010.
For the month of March 2011, only Washington, D.C. homes enjoyed a price gain (4.3 percent), compared to March 2010, as home prices tumbled in the other 19 of the 20 indexed Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) for the same period.
Twelve of the 20 MSAs and the 20-City Composite posted new lows.
"This month's report is marked by the confirmation of a double-dip in home prices across much of the nation," said David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices.
Blitzer added, "The National Index, the 20-City Composite and 12 MSAs all hit new lows with data reported through March 2011. The National Index fell 4.2 percent over the first quarter alone, and is down 5.1 percent compared to its year-ago level."
Minneapolis posted a double-digit 10 percent annual decline, the first market to be back in this territory since March 2010 when Las Vegas was down 12.0 percent on an annual basis. Seattle was up a modest 0.1 percent for the month, but still down 7.5 percent versus March 2010.
In March, the 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual rates of decline of 2.9 percent and 3.6 percent, respectively. Thirteen of the 20 MSAs and both monthly Composites saw their annual growth rates fall deeper into negative territory in March. While they did not worsen, Chicago, Phoenix and Seattle saw no improvement in their respective annual rates.
"Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight.” said Blitzer
"Since December 2010, we have found an increasing number of markets posting new lows. In March 2011, 12 cities - Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland (OR) and Tampa - fell to their lowest levels as measured by the current housing cycle," he added.
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Broderick Perkins, an award-winning consumer journalist, parlayed 30 years of old-school journalism into a digital real estate news service, the San Jose, CA-based DeadlineNews Group, including DeadlineNews.Com, a real estate news and consulting service and Web site, and the Deadline Newsroom, DeadlineNews.Com's news back shop.
Under the DeadlineNews Group umbrella:
Perkins was the first Examiner to cover three beats for the Examiner.com news service:
• National Real Estate Examiner
• National Consumer News Examiner
• National Offbeat News Examiner
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