Home Prices Sink

Home prices around the country fell a record 15.4 percent during the second quarter of 2008, according to reports released by S&P/Chase-Shiller.

By: James R. Lindamood

Home prices around the country fell a record 15.4 percent during the second quarter of 2008, according to reports released by S&P/Chase-Shiller. Their latest index is out, showing an 18.2% drop from the second quarter peak in 2006. In one small piece of good news, in June the monthly declines slowed slightly compared with May. Prices for the 10-city index declined nearly 17% year-over-year and the 20-city index was down almost 16%.

In a statement released by David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, "While there is no national turnaround in residential real estate prices, it is possible that we are seeing some regions struggling to come back, which has resulted in some moderation in price declines at the national level."

Unfortunately, during this time of reasonable real estate prices, finding a loan is more difficult that ever. Inventories are very high, and home prices are still dropping because of it. Peter Schiff said the market is roughly halfway to its bottom, so there are definitely bargains to be had. Now may be the time for savvy buyers to put a toe in the water. The lowest priced homes have posted the biggest price declines. Because lending abuses were most prevalent among lower to middle income borrowers, their homes tend to be more susceptible to price declines.