Home Prices Down Again

No surprise as to the direction, down, but single family home prices had their biggest month over month decline in October. Declining home prices further accelerate the sub-prime mortgage crisis by making it more difficult to re-finance or sell, to pay off existing mortgages.

The states that had the speculative boom, like Florida and California, have the biggest decline in prices.The indexes cited in the article linked to above cover only 10 and 20 metropolitan areas, so much of Michigan is not represented, though we are still suffering declines.  Of course, there was no speculative boom in Michigan, and prices have been declining for two years already.

I spoke to a potential client today who bought a Detroit loft for $250,000 in 2005, which has been foreclosed, and the one across the hall just sold for $150,000.

It makes no sense to try to come up with the money to save the residence. Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy only costs more money, filing fees, mandatory credit counseling, trustee fees and attorney fees, on top of back mortgage payments.

If you are waiting for to sell for prices to go back up, I agree with the experts quoted in the article: It will get worse before it gets better.