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House Prices Still Droppin' Like Its Hot

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The LA Times is reporting this morning that house prices continue to drop across the country; in Los Angeles alone, home prices have dropped 21.7% and and continue to decline:

Nationally, Case-Shiller shows prices falling by 14.4% in the 20 largest Amerian cities, by far the steepest rate of decline in the 20-year history of the index.

Actual sales of new homes rose by 3.3% in April, but sales are still down by 42% compared to this time last year. Furthermore, the NY Times is also reporting that the housing crunch continues to affect sales in other sectors, most notably the automotive industry. Turns out, it really is going to be bad-news-bears time for you SUV owners:

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"Home equity loans, which had been used in at least one of every nine deals, when lenders were more generous, are no longer a source of easy money for many prospective buyers. And used-car prices have fallen nearly 6 percent as repossessed cars and gas-guzzling trucks and S.U.V.’s flood auction lots. Those forces, on top of the softening economy, are putting enormous pressure on the American auto industry as it faces what may be its worst year in more than a decade. About 15 million vehicles are expected to be sold in 2008, down from 16.2 million last year, as sales reach the lowest levels since 1995"

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via Flickr

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