I ran a short poll over the last week and the results are in. Readers at Credit Writedowns expect house prices in the U.S. to fall well in excess of 30%.
From where I sit, this makes a lot of sense (I voted too: for a 30-50% fall). If one looks at the Case-Shiller index, the 20-city composite is already down over 17%. Those of you who answered that prices will fall less than 20% must think house prices are not going to fall much further from here. However, only 7% of you thought this.
35% voted for a 20-30% decline while the plurality voted that we will see a 30-50% decline in U.S. home prices. 19% felt prices will fall more than 50% in nominal terms. That’s ugly!
Only time will tell who’s right. Thanks for taking the poll!