First it was Florida and the Southwest watching their housing prices plummet, now Seattle, Atlanta and Minneapolis have followed suit. The ongoing correction has yet to end as the housing market goes into a double-dip cycle. Mortgage applications are at a 15-year low. These developments do not bode well for the rest of the winter and into spring.
Seattle, like Atlanta and Minneapolis, has seen a 31% drop in prices since 2007 and experts say that it has another 10% or so to go. A number of Seattle residents were interviewed for an article that appeared in the New York Times entitled “Housing Crash Is Hitting Cities Once Thought to Be Stable” by David Streitfeld and they all have been surprised by the severe drop in home prices. Many find that renting is cheaper than a mortgage with low prices dropping lower. Consumer confidence has yet to improve with some waiting for those extra jobs that will kick start the economy. In addition to the deteriorating market prices, an expanding inventory of homes for sale and the reality of higher mortgage rates, make it a dangerous time to invest in real estate and mortgage securities.
Page Perry, is an Atlanta-based law firm with over 125 years of collective experience representing investors in securities-related litigation and arbitration. Page Perry’s attorneys are actively involved in counseling institutional and individual investors regarding their real estate related investment problems. For further information, please contact us.