How Far Will Housing Prices Fall In 2009?

The year 2008 was horrible for real estate and, according to some experts, 2009 could be worse. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan. 29, prominent housing economist Ken Rosen suggested home prices could drop an additional 6% to 7% this year.

Rosen, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, told the Associated Press that the decline in housing prices is only about three-quarters complete, and the cumulative slump could reach 24% this year. To offset such a plunge, Rosen is proposing a foreclosure moratorium to help stabilize the economy. He said as many as 8 million homes could go into foreclosure in the next three years without government action, the AP reported. "I worry about the cumulative decline of all the job losses leading to a second wave of foreclosures. So we have to stop this downward spiral," Rosen said.

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