The Times is talking doom and gloom about the national housing market after stats were released showing that home prices fell 14.1 percent in March as compared to the same month last year. While primo New York City—Manhattan in particular—has remained mostly immune to the rest of the country’s housing woes, other once-resilient markets are faltering. Seattle, for example, has only started posting a huge rise in unsold inventory. Some say the housing market hangover could last for another couple years. It’s like eating beyond your stomach’s capacity, said Ronald J. Peltier, the chief executive of Home Services of America, which owns real estate brokerage firms across the country. We have huge indigestion. According to an article in the Observer, though, New York City may yet have to reach for the Mylanta: Recent rises in inflation (the price of a six pack of craft beer is up $1!) and crime, coupled with lots of job losses, could very well mean the worst is yet to come.
In Housing, the Strong Turn Weak [NY Times]
Lead Indicators? The Price of Beer, Hurricane Season [NY Observer]
Photo by bburke782.