Slight Drop in Prices of New, Existing, Foreclosed Houses
May 14th, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
A house price report by the Integrated Asset Services (IAS) showed that falling prices of new, existing and foreclose houses in the country slowed down in March. IAS’ benchmark index noted national housing prices dropping only 1.0 percent compared to a 3.0 percent decline in February and 3.5 percent drop in January of this year.
Based on the report, January showed the worst drop in U.S. house prices, which reportedly experienced an annual decline of 13.9 percent, with 10.7 percent coming in since September last year. The slide in housing prices was attributed to the increasing number of foreclosure properties which greatly affected the housing market.
The IAS report also noted that from the peak of the real estate market, housing prices went down by much as 17.7 percent due to the flood of foreclosure homes on the market.
Meanwhile, declines in housing prices at the regional levels are attributed to unemployment claims in the areas. Of all the four regions, the Midwest registered the highest decline in March with 2.5. The region also registered the highest rate of unemployment claims which was 81,957 for the same month. Industry experts identified job loss as one of the causes of the foreclosure crisis.
In other regions, housing prices dropped 1.3 percent in the South and 0.8 percent in the West. Housing prices in the Northwest remained unchanged and its initial jobless claims were the lowest among the four regions.
IAS President Dave McCarthy said that house prices in March showed some leveling off. However, he cautions that it is too early to assume that the foreclosure problem is waning and the housing market on its way to recovery.
Meanwhile, the IAs report noted that of the 10 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), half are down 20 percent or more since the start of the foreclosures crisis in December 2006. The biggest slide in housing prices occurred in San Francisco, California with 3.1 percent, followed by Las Vegas, Nevada with 2.7 percent drop.
On a positive note, Los Angeles, California showed home prices gaining 0.2 percent, the first time the city has experienced a jumped in housing values since April 2008. Inside the Los Angeles region, prices of new, existing and foreclosed houses in Orange County dropped by 3.2 percent, while Los Angeles County increased 1.1 percent.
