Mass. home prices fall 6.1% as downturn gathers speed

[midnight armadillo]

http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2006/09/26/mass_home_prices_fall_61_as_downturn_gathers_speed/?p1=MEWell_Pos1

Mass. home prices fall 6.1% as downturn gathers speed

By Kimberly Blanton, Globe Staff | September 26, 2006

The downturn in the Massachusetts housing market gained momentum in August, with the median price of a single-family home falling 6.1 percent, to $352,000, and the number of sales down 21.6 percent from last year, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said yesterday.

The condominium market, which had remained steady for most of the year even as the single-family market slipped, also felt the effects of the slowdown. The median condo price fell 3.3 percent in August, to $278,000, and sales fell 18.5 percent.

While sales volume has been in a freefall for months, price declines began showing greater momentum during the summer and are expected to continue into the fall.

``Things are not over in terms of the price declines," said David Iaia, a senior principal for Global Insight, a Lexington economics consulting firm. He said sellers will feel more pressure this fall to drop their prices on homes that have been on the market for more than three months, on average.

Iaia said the state's price declines would continue in 2007 and possibly into 2008, though it is difficult to predict. ``I don't think you'll get a good sense of the impact until next spring," he said.

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[ThomWV]

1. The ball rolling is just getting started

Mix deflation with a shrinking population base and there are some real problems in our future. You think its bad now, just immagine today's circumstance working in conjunction with a Depression the likes of the 30's.