Are the price of homes really going down?

I live in Wantagh Woods and I am looking for a house for my mom in my neighborhood. I have been looking for 3 months and I have made 3 offers on 3 different houses for her. The offers were usually 10% of the asking price. Still no luck not one has been accepted yet! Everyone says things are going down but houses in my area seem to be more expensive. I have only been in my house for 8 months and I am really surprised at the price of houses.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

totally see where ur coming from....im waiting for the prices to go down too i offered once not accepted but have been looking for over a month (i know not long but totally frustrating) i hear the same things about prices going down and its finally changing into a buyers market instead of a sellers market...but i honestly dont see it yet

Message edited 8/4/2007 6:08:03 PM.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

In the neighborhood I live in, I have, definitely, seen prices come down. However, they have not come down as far as buyers would like. For example, a house that would sell for $460,000 two years is now asking $420,000. While that is a $40,000 dip in the asking price, it is still high for most people. The last time the housing market took a downward turn as this, houses were sellling between $120,000 - $150,000. It took almost 10 years for the market to recover and when it did, it took off like a rocket. The result is what you see now. Alot of people, unless they really have to sell, are willing to wait to get what they want. Prices are not going to come down to what buyers think they should. Especially, not to where they were 15 years ago.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Everyone says prices are going down but I don't see it happening either. The inventory of houses is huge but sellers still want top $$$. The only way to get a good deal is if the house is a fixer or an estate.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

I am in FL and the houses are going down a lot. I just looked at the builder we used and when we bought our house 3 years ago it was base 140,000. (we had the land and we also did a bunch of upgrades) When we closed it appraised for $190,000. About 3 months ago this house from the builder base (no upgrades and land not included) was going for $169,990. Now it's listed at $162,990.

A co-worker of mine is renting a condo and pay's 1000 a month. The person who owns the condo the mortgage is 1700 a month, so this person is taking a real hit.

Driving around my area their is at least 2 - 3 houses on every block for sale. Our taxes were raised a lot so I am sure that contributes to those around us but it's a bit scary to see 2 - 3 houses on the same block on the market and they are on the market for a long time. Many are just looking to sell and others are looking to cut loses. One house on my block the guy bought the house so he could rent it and he is taking an incredable loss b/c he cant even get someone to rent it. So he's paying a mortgage on his own house plus a mortgage on this house. He's looking to sell it but it's really tough.

I hope the market picks up for all those that are looking

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

I think that the prices are going down. However, I do believe that some people are still pricing their houses on the high side. Trying to get as much as they can for their house. But to people buying that is still high.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Listen, if people in this day and age are waiting for houses to drop to $250,000 or even $300,000, it will never happen, especially here on Long Island. Buy what and when you can afford, and that is all you can base anything on! JMHO!!

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

When I see a house I like or go to an open house, I print out all the details and file it away. About once a month I sift through the file and see if the house is still on the market or if anything has changed. Just this month, I've seen 6 houses come down from their original asking price...once by as much at $30K.

I really think it all depends on the area. Certain neighborhoods are 'hot' and maybe don't need to come down in order to sell.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Thanks for all your comments and opinions. I am just really annoyed with the housing market right now. I am happy I have my house but I really wish something good will happen for all the buyers out there. I wish you all lots of luck! I am praying my mom will have an accepted offer soon.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

It also depends on how quickly people want to sell. The house across the street from us sold after being on the market for less than 2 weeks. The owner has owned the house for 30+ years. He probably bought it for around $7K. He has rented it for the past 10 years and now he wants to move to Florida. He does not need to make a large profit on this house so he was very negotiable with his price.
We on the other hand want to trade up but cant afford to sell our house for much less than we asked for because the houses we would want to buy are more money than we are asking.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

the prices have come down a lot. Even in the hot areas.

Sellers are still trying to get the most of their investment but home prices are reasonable now.

Depending how long a home has been on the market they will hold out-

wantagh ( I grew up in wantagh woods) has 1 of the BEST school districts( SD 23) on long island so sellers know this and will hold out again for something really close to their asking price.

I am noticing a ton of homes priced to sell too especially on mlsli and realtor.
since jan home prices that have lasted this long 6-7 months have dropped at least 30k.

in wantagh, I havent checked within the last month but there were a ton of homes for sale near beach street and demott ave. also park ave.
Best of luck to your mom.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

if you look over the pricing trends of the last two years, you can see prices have been generally stable. There have been seasonal fluctuations but prices have been about the same since summer 2005.

you'll see asking prices dropping because homes are talking longer to sell and people were ridiculous with their asking prices, but actual selling prices haven't changed much.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

A great piece of advice is that "all real estate is local" --- so maybe in wantagh woods (since its so desirable) its not being affected as much.

The market is stabalizing and coming down in certain areas. It's all local, I think.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

It is also supposed to drop more in 2008. We shall see.

Message edited 7/13/2009 3:19:21 PM.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

We looked at two houses this week that were dropped by 50k.

They were both overpriced to begin with but we've seen a lot of house prices drop.

But you can't let that stop you from going to look at them. Don't wait. Because we had an accepted offer on a house that was listed for 30k more than the offer. Then we had the inspection done and found problems and they countered another 20k lower. So the final was 50k less than what it showed on MLS.

And it is still on MLS at the original asking, even though they were ready to accept 50k less.

So don't go by those numbers. Comparable houses in the same area sold for 20k to 35k less than asking. Since the chances of new houses coming on the market now are slim, we're going over our top house price by the same amounts right now and looking at those. (not in Wantagh)

People are going to be desperate once school starts, especially the empty houses. You would be surprised what they will accept.

Good luck with your search.

Message edited 8/6/2007 8:11:53 AM.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

I'd ask a realtor to give you a list of what homes in the area are selling for, that way you can get an idea of how reasonable your offers have been. Like the posters above said, housing prices may not be affected in that specific area.

In my area, prices are going down. People are listing their homes though ridiculously high trying to get as much as they can though. You can tell who really needs to sell because their house price starts dropping after about a month.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

We bought our current house almost 3 years ago and the price had dropped 2 times and we bought for less than that last dropped price, it was starting to cool back then. I have heard that 2009 will be the bottom for LI, but I have noticed houses in my neighborhood are stable if not rising a bit in my neighborhood, with the exception of a fixer upper that recently sold.

Message edited 8/6/2007 9:18:36 AM.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

well at least that means that your home in that area is appreciating!
good luck finding something for your mom.

Re: Are the price of homes really going down?

I just got an accepted bid and I have seen prices of houses drop, but they seem to be houses that aren't in the best area, were too high to begin with, or need a lot of work.