Home Values Fall By $489 Billion In U.S., Show Slowing Decline: Zillow

A note to homeowners: the calamitous decline in your home's value during the last year may be slowing.

In a new report, the real estate data website Zillow spotlights some tentative bright spots in an otherwise bleak real estate landscape. According to Zillow's figures, total home values in the U.S. declined by $489 billion in the first 11 months of the year. That marks an 87-percent decline from the $3.6 trillion loss of value that homeowners suffered in 2008.

The housing markets which showed the biggest gains, according to Zillow were Boston, MA; Providence, RI; Denver, CO; Atlanta, GA; and Rochester, NY.

The worst housing markets this year included Los Angeles, which topped the list losing total value of $50.8 billion, followed by Chicago, Miami, New York City and Phoenix.

But Zillow's chief economist Stan Humphries offered a sober reminder of the gigantic overhang in housing inventory. And a recent report by First American CoreLogic found that nearly one in four U.S. mortgage holders have negative equity on their homes. Here's Humphries's outlook for 2010:

The 2009 numbers are encouraging, but our optimism for next year is cautious. The government's tax credits and low mortgage rates are spurring a lot of demand, but the tax credits will end after the first quarter, and mortgage rates are likely to rise at that time as well (as the Fed ramps down its purchase of mortgage-backed securities). In addition, foreclosures are likely to rise. All of these factors will put downward pressure on home prices, so the possibility of another dip in prices does exist.

Read the entire report at Zillow.

Comments

[invest in jobs]

11:35 AM on 12/13/2009

No more bailouts

hat tip to : http://fin­anceopinio­nss.blogsp­ot.com/

the fraud ponzi-pyra­mid markets being bubbled up by Bernanke's Viagranomi­cs. the house of cards will continue to fail despite the recent visual morphine and Bernanke's wizardry behind the Fed curtain.

[Lita Smith-Mines]

04:02 PM on 12/10/2009

I believe, based on the desperate homeowners­, hesitant home buyers, and reluctant lenders I talk to every day, we are still much closer to the corners of Falling & Uncertain than we are to the intersecti­on of Stable & Hopeful.

http://www­.huffingto­npost.com/­lita-smith­mines/sell­-off-the-y­armulkes-h­e_b_386219­.html

[mkenn]

11:05 AM on 12/10/2009

What can I say?... http://www­.youtube.c­om/watch?v­=uBRZw5kd4­74 ...actuall­y this song says it all for me.

[Sundialsvc4]

08:31 AM on 12/10/2009

In other words:

"Great news! The train-wrec­k is now happening a little more slowly!!"

:-/

[madisonhack]

10:23 PM on 12/09/2009

When you try to sell your house, you'll find out what it's worth. Until then, you're just renting.

[xilduq]

12:32 AM on 12/10/2009

Yes, I consider myself "renting to own" rather than "own"

[lcammarosa]

06:54 PM on 12/09/2009

The report mentioned in the post above tells us where home prices were.

The HomeGain 4th QTR Realtor Home Prices survey (released today) reports on where Realtors, who are in the market every day, think home prices are headed in the next six months.

You can check out the HomeGain Home Prices survey here:

There is also a section on what Realtors think of President Obama

http://blo­g.homegain­.com/homeg­ain/homega­in-release­s-4th-quar­ter-2009-r­ealtor-hom­e-prices-s­urvey-resu­lts-nation­al-and-reg­ional/

[BonnieDoon]

04:53 PM on 12/09/2009

Zillow's informatio­n is questionab­le. Their data sources are not transparen­t and verifiable­.

[rbchilds]

04:58 PM on 12/09/2009

Sort of like congress.

[ThinkForYourself3]

05:20 PM on 12/09/2009

Their chat forums are ok. Seems all of the regulars say do not buy now, wait until prices stop going down. Sounds like a plan.