Home prices: 1st drop in 11 years

[2Design]

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/25/news/economy/homesales2/index.htm?cnn=yes

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Home sales slowed and a key measure of prices fell for the first time in 11 years last month, spurred by the biggest glut of new homes on the market in more than a decade, an industry group said Monday.

The National Association of Realtors report on existing home sales showed that the median home price in August was $225,000, down 1.7 percent from a year earlier.
housing_starts.jpg
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It was the first year-over-year decline in median prices since April 1995, when that measure slipped only 0.1 percent. And it was the biggest year-over-year drop since the record 2.1 percent decline recorded in November 1990, when the nation was in recession.

While month-over-month declines in prices are not uncommon, year-over-year decreases in prices are a more serious sign of a slumping housing market. Even in other recessions, home prices generally have risen year-over-year on a national basis. The median price is the point at which half the homes sell for more and half sell for less.

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Wanted to add this to the list here for tracking

[Human Torch]

1. Wow...we're only $525K over the national average in Silicon Valley...

$750K median home price here.

:patriot:

[whistle]

2. That is scary, but wasn't that what happened under Bush I

...when fixed 30 year home interest rates hit 12.5% in most areas of the country? Then Clinton came into office and forced the home mortgage rates down to where it made sense to refinance as fixed 30 year rates fell to the 7.0% range