SPOKANE -- National home prices hit another low. The Standard and Poor’s Case Shiller Index shows home prices in major cities are at their lowest level in nine years. Prices are down 33% from the 2006 peak. A record number of foreclosures forced prices down. Experts predict prices will keep falling through 2011.
Spokane real estate agents are staying afloat in the struggling market by renting homes. Agents tell KREM 2 News that renting is becoming a popular alternative for homes that won’t sell. Windermere Real Estate agents are renting to people from all walks of life.
“Some of these people we’re getting are doctors, lawyers, people from out of town,” said agent Tim Todd, “they have one or two houses they cannot sell.”
Todd said the last thing people want is to get stuck with an additional mortgage. Real estate trends show homes aren’t selling, which in turn leaves some potential buyers with no money.
“I know we’d be selling a lot more houses if people could sell their houses in other parts of the country,” added Todd.
He suggests taking advantage of the situation just like any other sale.
“If you have a sale at Nordstrom or Target everyone runs for the sale,” said Todd, “You have a real estate sale and people hide.”
There’s no prediction just how low prices will drop. Todd advises buying a home now while prices are still low, and trying to break even by renting your other property if it fails to grab buyers' attention.
Two major U.S. cities bucked the current real estate trend. Home prices increased recently in Seattle and Washington, D.C.
