Housing Crash Is Hitting Cities Thought to Be Stable

[alp227]

Source: The New York Times

SEATTLE — Few believed the housing market here would ever collapse. Now they wonder if it will ever stop slumping.

The rolling real estate crash that ravaged Florida and the Southwest is delivering a new wave of distress to communities once thought to be immune — economically diversified cities where the boom was relatively restrained.

In the last year, home prices in Seattle had a bigger decline than in Las Vegas. Minneapolis dropped more than Miami, and Atlanta fared worse than Phoenix.

The bubble markets, where builders, buyers and banks ran wild, began falling first, economists say, so they are close to the end of the cycle and in some cases on their way back up. Nearly everyone else still has another season of pain.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/14/business/economy/14dip.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

[Mojorabbit]

1. I am really worried about this.

Until this mess gets straightened out, I cannot see how we can recover. It really really bothers me to see this continue to deteriorate even though I know it was expected.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Great. Housing prices are getting affordable but no one has money to buy them now.

[handmade34]

3. even if I had the money

would feel like a smuck profiting from another person's loss...

[Hawkowl]

10. Means continued price declines

No money = no demand = price collapse. This is how the rich plan on buying up the 20% of the country they don't own. It happened during the Great Depression and it is happening again.

[pnwmom]

11. And cities are getting less and less revenue from real estate taxes,

so they're laying off people, too. It's a downward spiral.

[fasttense]

14. Just like in the 1st RepubliCON Great Depression.

Everything becomes affordable but only the Robber Barons have the money to buy.

[northofdenali]

4. Once it hits Seattle, it starts up here.

We're now seeing it (and I'm feeling it, we're going to lose our house) - and, what's ironic, is that when it finally "hits" the "stable" states, help is no longer available.

Ask anyone in Alaska if they've gotten any assistance from ANY program started when the housing market crashed. We're "too late"; the requested help "expired"; etc. etc.

What do I need a house for, anyway? I only have 6 rescued cats, a husband with a heart problem, I'm unemployed due to a layoff, and it's 32 below zero.

[DeSwiss]

5. What is the worst thing about all this.....

...is that it isn't even happening because of something real. Just pixels on a computer screen.

- And fraud......

K&R

[StarsInHerHair]

8. exactly that, remember the Banskters were keeping double books? I say

swap out these 'mortgage-backed securities' or whatever they're called & CHANGE THEM TO WAR BONDS. It is a successful pattern that previously worked

[Yavin4]

6. If folks are unemployed/underemployed, they cannot buy homes

Also, every time states cut more workers, they are also cutting the pool of available buyers for homes.

[BreweryYardRat]

24. Fuckin' A.

I don't even have enough in the bank to get a HUD loan. Even then, I'd still need at least $5000-7000 to live on until I could find a job.

I don't want a frickin' McMansion. A little one or two-bedroom (having a renter would cut down on mortgage payments) place is all I want. I don't care if it's one step up from a shack, so long as I can get started on building equity.

[BobTheSubgenius]

7. I saw a bit on the Seattle news on foreclosed houses.

It was staggering. In one case, a bank was taking bids on $279,000 for a house that had previously sold for $1,200,000. In another, the opening bid on a "fixer upper" was $9000.

Absolutely dumbfounding.

[mackerel]

9. Wow 9K is what a home goes for in Detroit.

I thought there were signs of improvement?

[pnwmom]

12. I wonder what kind of shape those houses were in.

I've been helping a relative look at houses, so I've seen a lot in the last couple months. One or two were truly disgusting -- mold growing over an entire ceiling, for example. That could explain a really low price.

[paparush]

13. Asheville, NC has seen a HUGE spike in foreclosures compared to this time last year.

[xchrom]

15. asheville?!? -- wow -- that's one of those places every one wants live. nt

[paparush]

22. +200% increase from 2009 - 2010

-snip-
But a Herald-Journal review of RealtyTrac data, the same used by CNN, shows Asheville, N.C., actually had the greatest percentage increase in foreclosures from 2009 to 2010 — 229 percent.

http://www.flyingoskar.com/2011/02/03/local-headlines-dueling-takes-on-spartanburg-county-foreclosure-rates/

[Johnny Harpo]

16. This Is The Reality..No Area Is Safe...It Is Hitting....

every State...County...City...Town.

It has just taken longer to get to the 'safe' places.

Dispite what we are told..things are not getting that much better.

It still comes down to this:

No Job = No Income = No REAL participation in the 'economy' except for the basics (rent/mortg-utilities-food).

People without jobs don't buy things. Not because they don't want to....they can't.

And when the bankers, wall st, and all the rest of the fat cats are done raping the baby boomers, they will go after the next generation.

If you think its getting better...you're not paying enough attention.

[Javaman]

17. This is another outcome of a "jobless recovery".

no jobs = no money being pumped back into the economy.

Depending on the rich to revive the economy is like depending on a dam to keep the water flowing.

[Blue_Tires]

23. +1

[fascisthunter]

18. the economy is doing just fine

for those invested in this scam

[andym]

19. Not in the Bay Area.

Prices are still ridiculous in places like Palo Alto, Sausalito, Los Altos, etc

[Devil_Fish]

20. Rent in thouse areas is rediculous to. $1.5K for a 1BD,1BA.

It's fucking crazy.

[sakabatou]

21. Tell me about it

Around here, most houses are going over one million.