The Wall Street Journal ran an interesting article on August 16. Here's the link. Here's an important quote:

• "The picture on inventories isn't as good as it sounds, either. A lot of unsold homes have simply been put up for rent instead, especially in the most difficult markets like Miami. The result? A glut of empty rentals as well.

• New waves of foreclosures and distressed sales may be coming, too. In states such as California, it can take many months for delinquencies to turn to foreclosures, which means last winter's bad news may still be coming down the pike. Meanwhile, vast tranches of teaser-rate mortgages are due to reset later this year and in 2010."

This means there is ongoing downward pricing pressure for the rest of us who are staying in our homes. It doesn't mean we should sell, but it does mean that our market values may continue to come down, possibly for several years, especially in states like CA and FL that have been hit hard. Will assessed values drop? Maybe, but you can bet there will be a delay, or lag time, before assessed values come down to the true market values..

Labels: assessment, property taxes, property values