About Us · Advertising · Disclaimer ·

Mark Zandi's Forecast of Housing Prices In 2010


Big Image



Download Podcast

Dec 9th, 2009

 

Towards the end of 2009, we were starting to see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel as home sales increased registering its highest levels in more than 2 years. Many thought that we have reached the bottom in home prices with increased interest from home buyers stirring up bidding wars from Florida to Nevada, Silicon Valley and New York. 

 

Not to ruin the party but Mark Zandi, the chief economist of Economy.com thinks not. He predicts that home prices may fall another 5% to 10% in 2010 with some extreme cases of 30% in places like Miami. There is a very slim chance that home prices may recover in 2011 and it is still too premature to tell.

 

Zandi worries that the millions of troubled loans that eventually don’t get modified will pile up and convert into more foreclosures. RealtyTrac estimates that 2 million housing units in the United States are in foreclosure or bank owned. There is a clear danger that many more are likely to pile on to the inventory.

 

Zandi is estimating 2.4 million new foreclosures in 2010. He is anticipating that banks will become more aggressive in listing more of their properties in the first half of the year. The bank’s actions of dumping more properties in the market will cause prices to tumble even more.

 

Currently, the property market is not able to stand on its own as it is artificially propped up by the extended first-time-home-buyer tax credit coupled with the government’s expensive purchases of mortgage backed securities (MBS).

 

The U.S government has been purchasing mortgage-backed-securities or the bundling of home loans as of late 2008. The government purchases of these securities have helped to keep mortgage rates low and attractive. Mortgage-backed securities were once popularly sold through Wall Street to world-wide investors betting that U.S. housing will continue to prosper. These investors purchased MBS in hopes of earning a favorable return. This of course is the contrary as we are witnessing today with the demise of U.S. housing causing the market demand for mortgage-backed securities to shrink with no buyers or investors. As a result, the U.S. government stepped in to sustain the purchases of mortgage-backed securities so as to preserve low mortgage rates in an effort to prevent further hurt to U.S. home prices. By March of 2010, the U.S. government would have completed its purchase of a whopping $1.25 trillion worth of mortgage-backed-securities.   

 

There is speculation that the government may end its purchases of mortgage-backed-securities by March 2010. This may result in mortgage rates to spike by a full point. This may turn away many homebuyers as it raises the cost of buying a home.

 

All these factors were incorporated into Economy.com’s housing price forecast for 2010 with the consideration of local figures for income, population, interest rates and foreclosures.

 

The result covers 100 metropolitan areas. Their 2009 projection of a 14.5% decline were quite accurate and not too far off from the actual 13.2%

 

According to Zandi, the hardest hit areas as he terms the ‘usual suspects’ such as Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California will experience more foreclosures. He indicated Miami was the worst market where the 2009 median home price of $183,530 is forecasted to fall another 33% in 2010.

 

Zandi points out to the less controversial areas such as the Pacific Northwest, New York and Virginia where prices remain inflated relative to rents.

 

The brighter spots are found in the pockets of the Midwest where the agricultural and energy economies are stronger in places like Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska.

 

Pittsburgh which never experienced a housing bubble is the only housing market that is expected to rise by 0.41% in 2010.

 

 

Comments

News Archive

Stay Or Walk Away From Your Home? - November 24th 2009

Fannie Mae Launches New Program Converting Delinquent Homeowners Into Renters - November 11th 2009

Homeowner Gets To Keep Home After Lender Failed To Prove Ownership - October 27th 2009

Implications Of A Loan Modification - October 15th 2009

41 Suspects Arrested For Mortgage Fraud - October 15th 2009

Bridge Loans Coming Soon For Unemployed Homeowners - October 14th 2009

Government Modification Program Inadequate And Calls For An Upgrade - October 9th 2009

Freddie Mac Offers Door To Door Help On Your Modification - September 29th 2009

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Running Out Of Money - September 18th 2009

Good Time To Refinance With Government Program - September 15th 2009

Selling Your Home And Tips For The First Time Homebuyer - September 14th 2009

How To Keep Your Home If You Lose Your Job - August 28th 2009

Citigroup Performing Well In Foreclosure Prevention - August 25th 2009

Foreclosure Rescue Scams Preying On Homeowners - August 17th 2009

Deutsche Bank Estimates 48% of U.S Homeowners Underwater By 2011 - August 11th 2009

Loan Modification Progress Report Card - August 5th 2009

How Bad Are Foreclosures In Your City? - July 30th 2009

Rep. Barney Frank Threatens Banks To Stop Foreclosure Or Else? - July 28th 2009

U.S Government Wants 500,000 Trial Modifications By Nov 1st - July 28th 2009

Subprime Brokers Involved In Loan Modification Scam - July 21st 2009

'Walk-Away' Survey Shows 26% of Defaults Are Intentional - July 21st 2009

'Own-To-Rent' The New Emerging Mortgage Plan - July 17th 2009

Tools To Help Homeowners Save Big In Property Taxes - July 16th 2009

Lawmakers Dissapointed With Foreclosure Help Programs - July 16th 2009

New Jersey Attorney General Goes After Mortgage Scams - July 15th 2009

Watch Out For Some Misleading Reverse Mortgage Advertisements - July 6th 2009

Chase And Bank of America To Experience 2nd Wave of Foreclosures - July 6th 2009

Obama Extends Mortgage Refinancing Program, Raising New Limit To 125% - July 1st 2009

Paper Avalanche, Lack of Trained Staff Add Obstacles To Loan Modification Program - June 29th 2009

Government Loan Modification And Refinance Program Shows Substantial Progress - June 18th 2009

Luring First Time Homebuyers, Tips To Beat The Competition And Sell Your Home - June 15th 2009

Bank Of America has modified 50,000 loans in Countrywide settlement - May 26th 2009