See that's the problem.....the indicators are very mixed. Even here. This past winter in the commercial district near where I live a hundred unit mixed use project went under construction. At about the same time, another 50 unit mixed use project ran out of money and stopped construction. I don't know why the bank cut off the money but it doesn't look good.
Having said that, generally things are better here.
Despite the improvement in equity, the bay area remains one of the most troubled metros in the country. It has the third-highest percentage of mortgage-holders underwater among the 25 largest metro areas, trailing only Phoenix (66.8 percent) and Riverside, Calif. (49 percent). Miami-Fort Lauderdale is on Tampa Bay's heels, with a negative equity rate of 44 percent.
On the flip side were markets like Pittsburgh, where only 5.6 percent of homeowners with mortgages are underwater.
That's one more indication, Zillow said, of a huge disparity in housing recovery across the country.
"As the national housing market limps toward stabilization, individual markets are a mixed bag," Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said. "The double tax credits for some California home buyers have certainly stimulated housing demand there and are partly responsible for the rapid — and likely unsustainable — rates of appreciation in many markets across the state.
"Markets in other parts of the country, like Miami, Detroit and Phoenix, are not yet showing signs of reaching a bottom in home values. High supply continues to be a challenge in states like Florida and Arizona." |
