Some Housing Markets Won’t See Peak Home Prices Until After 2039

04-13-2010 • TheTruthAboutMortgage.com

In Sacramento, California, prices aren’t expected to return to their previous boom-time peaks until after 2039. Same goes for Orlando, Florida. It’s hard to be optimistic in a situation like that… “Nationally, Fiserv Case-Shiller data points to a further seven percent decline in home prices through the end of this year, with a prolonged recovery beginning early in 2011. In many markets, the emphasis is on the word ‘prolonged,’” said David Stiff, Chief Economist, Fiserv, in a statement. “We see several powerful forces in the market that will severely hinder the housing recoveries of many metro areas, particularly in the hard-hit states of California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. It will take these markets 15 or more years before home prices climb back to their peaks.” These “forces” include high levels of unemployment and a steep decline in manufacturing jobs – a protracted recovery is also expected in urban areas like Chicago and Memphis where predatory lending ran rampant.