What are the Worst Housing Markets in 2012?
2012 is the year that the US housing markets are turning around after hitting rock bottom. Historic mortgage rate lows and house markets were reached in most states but some markets however were worse than others.
According to Ingo Winzer, LMM President in a recent report, there are markets where buyers should hold off the intention to buy. These areas have been afflicted with a combination of problems including overbuilding which lowered prices because of low demand as well as massive job losses. What such problems mean for the area is that even as housing markets improve in other areas, it will be some time before the same is seen here in terms of increased market value and asking prices. In fact, it is expected that the housing markets in these areas could do down by between 7 and 10 percent and this is in the coming year alone.
One such housing market area is Wilmington, Delaware. This is one area where foreclosures are so high that Occupy Wall Street protestors are disrupting sheriff foreclosure auction sales. One of the problems that this area is facing is that economic measures that are being taken to put it on the recovery path are inadequate. Shortage of jobs is the largest problem here.
What this is doing is that home values are continuing to drop and there are a lot of empty homes due for foreclosure. This are part of the inventory that that are estimated at more than 4 million. It is an inventory that will take years to resolve and meanwhile home values are predicted to decline by 8,2 percent in 2012.
Another one of the worst performing housing markets of 2012 is Virginia where an increase in foreclosures and is causing a decline in house prices. This is despite an influx of federal employees from the nation's buying capital. Arlington and up market Alexandria has to contend with the challenge of a rising foreclosures as large number of mortgage holders leave their underwater homes. It is predicted that home values in the area will decline by 4 percent in the year.
In California, there are still tough times ahead for the cities of Fresno and Sacramento as the other cities continue to see vast improvement in home values and sales. In Fresno, it will take a longer time to emerge from the shadows of foreclosures and short sales that caused the housing downturn in the area to hold increases in home values at no higher than 1,2 percent. The state capital of Sacramento is also yet to get firmly on the recovery path, It has also been hit by a lot of foreclosures as job market also took a hit during the worst of the recession.
Other areas that will get worse before they get better are Atlanta and Macon in Georgia, Statistics indicates that out of every three homes on mortgage in Atlanta, one is either underwater or more is owed on it that it would sell for in the current market. Georgia is hard hit with unemployment which has been in the region of 9 percent in some regions such as Augusta for the last two years.
In the metro area of Macon, foreclosures have been high and despite expected improvement, lower home prices of about 2.7 percent will be the reality for 2012. Home prices have also been falling in another metro area of Atlanta, Here, it is predicted that sales of condos and existing homes will be sluggish despite the lowest mortgage rates ever and declining home prices. Home sales here are predicted to take a drop of 6.7 percent in the year.
New Jersey is another area whose housing markets are yet to get out of the woods, Unemployment has been a major challenge in the area. There is a huge inventory of foreclosures that is yet to be taken by banks which are lying vacant that are part of the shadow inventory that is to be accounted by lenders.
The New Jersey problem had been compounded by an oversupply of houses such as in Newark. This has been coming down but only marginally. The increase has not been high enough to swing the housing markets in the region into recovery. A decline of 3.7 percent in this area is predicted.
Another area that is contributing significantly to this is Trenton where a stalled economy caused many businesses to shut down. It is so bad in fact that house owners are opting to pull out of the market and wait for an improved economy.
The state of these housing markets means are ideal for buyers and investors who can get them at low prices now. Investors can sell later for a tidy profit and individuals can upgrade to bigger and better houses before the markets pick up which they will in 2013.
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