Home values accelerated their decline in September

Zillow released a report wrapping up the state of the real estate market in the third quarter. It seems that 23.2% of all mortgaged homes are now underwater. That’s nearly a quarter of all mortages. Foreclosures have also reached an all-time high as of the end of September.  RealtyTrac’s October figures showed that 322,000 properties either got a notice of default, were repossessed or were auctioned off. If the interest rates were not so low already, the numbers on foreclosures would be even higher! Even so, October was the 20th consecutive month where over 300,000 U.S. homeowners received a foreclosure notice.

Over the last year, Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix have seen home values drop over 12%, and there is no end in sight. Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries wrote, “The length and depth of the current housing recession is rivaling the Great Depression’s real estate downturn and, with encouraging signs fading, will easily eclipse it in the coming months.”
 
The National Association of Realtors also released a report saying that home prices fell in half of all metro areas during the third quarter. Here is where this gets interesting, because we have to put this into perspective:  there was actually a rise in two-thirds of metro areas during the second quarter.

Where was the worst place to try and sell a home in Q3? Ocala, Florida because prices there fell 20%. However, some markets are rising, as is always the case, because housing prices rose 18% in Burlington, Vermont.