Report: Phoenix home prices to drop another 23%

Yesterday, we unveiled our Short Sale Lead Generation program for our Fidelity Elite Short Sale Agent Group, and we handed out 18,000 leads throughout the state of Arizona and it is clear, that the Agents and Lenders, that get in front of this problem now, before the next wave of REO comes out, will get a better return for both consumers and banks. Below is some very sobering forecasts on Arizona and what is still to come in terms of the housing decline in values…..Steve de Laveaga, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing with Fidelity National Title

Report: Phoenix home prices to drop another 23%
Reported by: Tim Vetscher

PHOENIX -- Valley homeowners, brace yourselves for more bad news.
A new report indicates home prices will continue to shrink nationwide, with an especially sharp decline here in Phoenix.

"That's real scary," said Tempe resident and homeowner Linda Weinberg. "I hope that's not conceivable. It's pretty scary."

According to Fiserv, a financial information and analysis firm, home prices in Phoenix are expected to lose another 23.4 percent by June of next year.

"Such is the state of the market," said Chandler resident and homeowner Mark Siebel. "Just like anything it can go up or it can go down. It's unfortunate if it would go down another 23 percent."
One bright spot in the report is that Fiserv expects the losses to be less than 5 percent the following year compared to other markets where the declines will continue to be steep into 2011.
Fiserv estimates home values have already collapsed by 54 percent here in the Valley.

"(The report) means I consider going into foreclosure or short sale," said Gilbert resident and homeowner Bruce English. "Or being stuck with a home for 15 years before reaching break even to sell it."