Falling House Prices Create New Opportunities for Buyers

Buyers should pay close attention to the results of a report released on Feb. 10, 2009.

On that date, Denver-based Integrated Asset Services released its House Price Index for December 2008. Based on the most current information available at the time, the report shows a 13.8 percent decline in house prices for the full year 2008 and an overall decline of 19.1 percent since the market’s peak at the end of 2006. These are national numbers, of course; certain local markets have seen greater or lesser declines.

Of greater interest to potential buyers, however, is the data contained in the IAS report that identifies 10 of the counties hit hardest during the national real estate decline. It is in these markets that some of the greatest buying opportunities lie.

Not surprisingly, most of the hardest hit counties were in states that experienced the largest gains during the housing bubble. California fared the worst, with the top three of the nation’s hardest hit counties: San Joaquin County, down 51 percent from its high; Monterey County, down 49 percent; and Kern County, down 45 percent. In Florida, Lee County fared the worst, with a decline of 44.6 percent. Charlotte County dropped 42.2 percent, and Pasco County declined 39.7 percent.

“We’re seeing house prices returning to pre-bubble levels, and there are no signs of leveling off just yet,” says Dave McCarthy, president and CEO of Integrated Asset Services. “But location is still everything.”

In these hard hit counties, and others, opportunity knocks for savvy buyers. Want to learn more about prices in your neighborhood? Give your local CENTURY 21 Adams & Barnes office a call, and we can provide you with prices and other data for areas that you’d like to live in as well as tips on how to make the most of current market conditions.