June 3, 2008

House prices in the US falling fast

Any hopes of a quick recovery from the slump in the value of houses may have taken a bit of a hit today as it has been announced that the property sector in the US is falling faster than property prices did during the Great Depression.

In the first quarter of the year house prices were falling at a rate of 14.1%, this figure is worst since the S&P/Case-Shiller national house-price index began around twenty years ago.

During the 1930’s in fact in 1932 which was the lowest point in the great depression, property prices were falling at a rate of around 10.5%.

In real terms, it is estimated that over the past year property prices in the US have fallen by a staggering eighteen per cent!

Source [Economist]

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11465476