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Jonathan Sweet - Remodeling Notes


Jay Sweet
As senior editor of Professional Remodeler, a lot of information crosses my desk. This blog will be a chance to share some of that with you, with an immediacy not possible with a monthly magazine. It's also your chance to tell me what you think about what I have to say. Whether you agree or disagree, I hope you won't be shy.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Finding the positive in home prices

Jul 29 2008 12:11PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |
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Sure, home prices are down again, according to the latest Case-Shiller numbers, but there is some good news to point your clients toward. If they are long-term owners, they are almost certainly ahead on their homes. For most homeowners, their "losses" of the last two years are paper losses, not real.

A few examples:

  • Phoenix - Down 26.5 percent for the last year, but up 57.3 percent since 2000 and 80 percent since 1995.
  • Los Angeles - Down 24.5 percent for the last year, but up 98 percent since 2000
  • Washington, D.C. - Down 15.4 percent over the last year, but up 99 percent since 2000
The simple fact is prices needed to come down. We all knew they were unreasonably high and increasingly out of reach for most people. The reality is that there's probably some more pain to come, but remodeling is still a good long-term purchase. 

We talk about this some more in the 2009 Forecast article in the August issue, which will be posted here or in your mailbox soon.

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