How Much Lower Can Housing Prices Fall?

With so much doom and gloom in the housing market and with the credit crunch not helping anyone, where are home prices going? Here in Florida home prices have fallen by over 20 percent in the last year and finding "qualified" buyers is getting more difficult everyday.

Looking back we should have realized the double digit percentage growth in the housing market was not going to last forever. We should look at this price correction as a good thing, Imagine if anyone would be able to buy a house if prices kept going up. For example, I have 3 children and without the current price correction the dream of them becoming homeowners would have been just that, a dream.

With the mortgage markets as tight as the are and banks making it more and more difficult to get a loan, we need some relief. From what I see and hear, people who have very good credit and are able to put down a large deposit should have no problem getting a mortgage at a decent rate. It is those people who have a poor credit history that will continue to struggle to borrow money. It seems as though the lenders have learned from their experiences and are not going to make the same mistakes twice. Therefore it is more important than ever to make all your payments on time and keep your credit score as high as possible.

So have we seen the bottom of the market yet? Will Prices continue to fall? If the recent attempts by the government to help the banking industry works and allows them to lend money again, we may see a turn in the market. Remember it's supply and demand, we have the supply and need the demand which means having the banks making loans available to buyers. Remember, nothing lasts forever, just like the sharp rise in real estate prices ended, so will this decline.

By Peter DeJoseph
Lic. Real Estate Broker
Lic. Mortgage Broker
www.YourREguy.com