It's starting in our neighborhood.

[beak]

We live in a neighborhood that is about 8 acre lots with custom built homes. We just got our latest tax evaluation and the house had dropped about 10% from 2 years ago. Well 5 months ago our neighbor across the road went in to foreclosure. Three months later we notice a lot of activity with contractors going on. There was a new Escalade going in and out with some real snotty people that wouldn't return a wave. We speculated that they were fixing up their house to move in. WRONG. They bought the hose for a song. Did a bunch of fix ups to sell it. Now they are selling it for about 25% below value and still making a killing. The only way to determine value of your house out here is 2 or 3 comparable houses in the area. Our house just dropped another 40k. Hopefully some decent people will move in.

 

[debilorrah]

It's happening all over the place. My brother bought his home for $400K - 3600 sq ft ranch style home with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, sunken living room, HUGE laundry room etc. Very nice home. Just appraised at $210K Talk about a shock.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

My DH and I were first-time home buyers this year. Foreclosures helped us to buy our dream home this spring. We got an extremely good deal.

It's a bittersweet situation...bad for those in foreclosure, good for those who don't yet own a home but are financially stable and ready to buy.

 

[BarkerChickens]

Our house (3 br/2 ba on ~ 1/2 acre) was appraised for $350,000 about 3 yrs ago. We just got it appraised a couple weeks ago...$127,000. Over 60% decrease and that is with home improvements!

And supposedly we live in one of the more expensive areas in our city (because we are large lots with traditional sidewalk, pavement, etc...it's really nothing spectacular). Oh well..... We want to eventually sell and move out of state, but guess we'll be sittin' tight for a while.

 

[consdrs]

Quote:
The way things were going I didn't know how my kids were going to be able to afford a home when the time came. I figured an average size house would be a million dollars by then! a serious correction yes. but it is a double edged sword. I feel so bad for people losing their homes and then I am happy there are so many ppl out there now able to afford a home.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Ours went down too. I'm not complaining right now because the property tax has gone down and we plan on staying here forever.

 

[Backyard Buddies]

Really, it only matters if you're buying or selling or trying to refinance. I bought my house back in '91. In the OC, the price increases can swing wildly. A couple years ago, it was worth nearly 4X what I paid for it. My cousin who lives in a Midwestern state saw the value of my house on Zillow and was completely impressed. My words at that time, "I didn't pay that much for it . . . and . . . just wait for the next drop in the market. It's not worth that amount of money." Sure enough, it's now worth quite a bit less than it was a few years ago.

Sure, if I sold it I wouldn't get what I could have a few years ago, but I'd also make more than what I paid. But, since I'm not selling, it really doesn't matter what the value is.

However, those who bought recently and need to sell, I really feel for you. If you can hang in there, I'm sure it'll turn around in time. We've seen plenty of ups and downs in the market. It eventually turns around.

 

[Big dreams]

We bought our house years ago and have seen it increase in value a lot, and then drop some. Personally because this is the house we will stay in as long as we can I like to see it drop, means less property tax!!!