The US housing market is in a “double dip” after officially sliding to price levels dangerously close to those that signaled the original start of the American housing crisis. The news suggests that declarations by some government officials, politicians and analysts asserting that the US economy is in recovery may have been either premature or unfounded.
Already rocked by rampant inflation and skyrocketing gasoline prices, the Obama regime now faces new economic data that reveals that America has little to show for the trillions of dollars in stimulus the regime has pumped into the coffers of its union and Wall Street supporters.
For the seventh month in a row, housing prices slumped showing homeowners no mercy after briefly offering a glimmer of hope that values might again tick upward. Such hope was short-lived as the nation braces for a return of the same circumstances that launched the nation into some of the worst economic conditions in its history.
Bad news like this coming as Obama begins intensifying his campaign for the 2012 election is bound to cause distress among his regime’s most ardent supporters as they scramble to defend their claim that the US recession ended in 2009.
The CNN report bearing the dreadful news indicates that along with the decline in pricing is a decline in sales and in construction of new residential units.
Washington DC immune
As with many economic indicators, the nation’s capital was the only region that saw increasing home prices, fueled by an expanding government and a burgeoning sector of political staffers and lobbyists to support it.
Similarly, the behemoth federal government has been growing jobs at a faster rate and at higher salaries than the rest of America, explaining the rosy economic outlook in Washington DC that is unparalleled in the nation at large.
Arizona hit hardest
Phoenix area housing prices have slumped more than 50%, creating an economical haven for Canadians who are flocking to the area to buy vacation homes at bargain basement prices.
The dramatic evaporation of housing value in Phoenix has been closely followed by Minneapolis, MN and Chicago.
Good news for the repo man
Housing defaults, foreclosures and repossessions are at all time highs this year, putting a further damper on any thoughts of a housing recovery. About one-third of all homes sold are properties that have been in foreclosure. Those houses tend to sell for an average of just 66% of their actual value.