The valley of home price depreciation…are we there yet? The latest market report for Zillow forecasts that home values in the U.S. are are expected to lose more than $1.7 trillion in value during 2010. The figure is a 63% increase than the $1 trillion lost in 2009 and brings the total market value lost since 2006 to $9 trillion dollars. Zillow’s 2010 statistics show that only 31 of the 129 markets tracked by Zillow showed gains in total home values during 2010.
"Despite a strong start to 2010, by the end of the year homes lost more of their value in 2010 than they did in 2009," said Zillow Chief Economist Dr. Stan Humphries. "Government interventions like the homebuyer tax credit helped buoy the market during the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010, but we saw a renewed downturn in the last half of this year. It’s a testament to the nearly irresistible force of the overall market correction that government incentives can only temporarily hold back the tide, and that the market will ultimately find its natural equilibrium of supply and demand. Unfortunately, with foreclosures near an all-time high in late 2010 and high rates of negative equity persisting, it does not appear that the first part of 2011 will bring much relief."
