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   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   From: fjb@nytimes.com   
      
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   Homeowners in markets that boomed when the real estate sector   
   was red-hot during the COVID-19 pandemic are now forced to slash   
   prices due to dwindling demand, according to data released   
   Monday by Redfin.   
      
   Across the US, 21% of home sellers dropped their asking prices   
   in July – the highest share since Redfin began tracking the   
   metric in 2012, according to the firm. The shares of homes with   
   price drops in July compared to one year ago increased in 94 of   
   97 metro areas surveyed.   
      
   The trend was at its worst in “pandemic home-buying boomtowns”   
   such as Boise, Idaho, where a whopping 69.7% of homes for sale   
   slashed listing prices in July. Other overheated markets   
   included Denver, with a 58% of price drops, and Salt Lake City,   
   with a 54.8% share of cuts.   
      
   “Individual home sellers and builders were both quick to drop   
   their prices early this summer, mostly because they had   
   unrealistic expectations of both price and timelines,” Boise-   
   based Redfin agent Shauna Pendleton said.   
      
   “They priced too high because their neighbor’s home sold for an   
   exorbitant price a few months ago, and expected to receive   
   multiple offers the first weekend because they heard stories   
   about that happening,” Pendleton added.   
      
   The US housing market has cooled considerably in recent months   
   as the Federal Reserve tightens monetary policy to address   
   rampant inflation. Mortgage rates have surged above 5%, nearly   
   twice as high as they were in January.   
      
   The spike in mortgage rates has compounded an affordability   
   crisis for prospective buyers contending with the effects of   
   inflation on their budgets as well as sky-high home prices. The   
   trend has sapped demand and left sellers with little choice but   
   to dial down their expectations.   
      
   Other metro areas with a share of home price cuts above 50%   
   included Tacoma, Wash.; Tampa, Fla.; Sacramento, Calif.;   
   Indianapolis, and Phoenix, according to Redfin.   
      
   Overall, home sales fell by 19.3% in July compared to one year   
   earlier, Redfin’s data showed. Activity has reached its lowest   
   point since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales have   
   declined for six straight months.   
      
   “Some prospective homebuyers were sidelined because they were   
   priced out of the market; others were wary of potential home-   
   value declines in the near future,” the firm said in a release.   
      
   As The Post reported, Ian Shepherdson, the chief economist at   
   Pantheon Macroeconomics, said in a note to clients last week   
   that the market’s slump is “still nowhere near the bottom,   
   especially for prices.”   
      
   “The bottom is still some way off, given the degree to which   
   demand has been crushed by rising rates; the required monthly   
   mortgage payment for a new purchaser of an existing single-   
   family home is no longer rising, but it was still up by 51% year-   
   over-year in July,” Shepherdson said in a note to clients.   
      
   Credit rating agency Fitch has also warned of a looming decline,   
   projecting that prices could eventually fall by up to 15% in the   
   event of major housing slump.   
      
   https://nypost.com/2022/08/22/home-prices-plunging-in-pandemic-   
   boomtowns-as-market-slumps/   
      
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