Home prices in Texas continued to drop, albeit at a slow pace, partly due to the flood of Fort Worth foreclosed homes for sale that glut the market. Recent market data showed that pre-owned home prices dropped by 1.2 percent two months ago, compared with the same month in 2008.
According to industry experts, the August home price decline was the smallest annual drop. Month-to-month figures showed a rise in home prices for six consecutive months. August home prices in both Dallas and Fort Worth were the highest since September of last year.
The statistical trend prompted industry economists to hope that the market is now heading towards the right direction. However, they are not confident to say that the market has bottomed out. They said that current developments are not enough to conclude that the housing market is on the way to real recovery.
Economists said that the housing market could only take a breather from the flood of Fort Worth foreclosed homes for sale if the increasing unemployment rate could be reigned in and the economy would start to show stability.
Meanwhile, property prices in August across the country dropped by 11.3 percent compared with a year ago. However, market data showed a rise from July home prices which gave more hope to industry economists that property values across the United States are starting to bottom out. August improvement in home values was the seventh straight month of positive trend in the housing market for this year.
Industry economists pointed out a relative improvement in the rate of home price decline. They said that the biggest drop in annual home prices in August occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada which saw a decline of 29.9 percent and Phoenix, Arizona which dropped to 1.9 percent compared with August 2008.
Meanwhile, analysts pointed out bad loan decisions, recession and speculations as some of the major influences on the continuous drop in home prices. They said that the current trend has created an opportunity to home buyers, especially first-time buyers who availed of the federal tax credit program.
They added that the housing market, from here on, bears watching because of the discounted prices and the growing competition for cheap foreclosure houses.
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