Home prices down, foreclosures up, Greenspan weighs in
August 14, 2008 by Tisa Silver
Filed under Finance
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median price of an existing single family home dropped 7.6 percent in the second quarter of 2008. RealtyTrac, Inc. reported that there were 55 percent more foreclosures filed in July 2008 than the same month last year.
The low median price is partially driven by the fact that approximately one third of all homes sales reported were foreclosures or short sales.
In a WSJ interview, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan projected that the housing market may not begin to stabilize until early 2009 or later. Greenspan pointed out that the excess supply of housing units is starting to run out.
The market seems to be ignoring the dismal housing news, probably because it was no surprise. By noon, the Dow was up over 100 points.
