Bob's Comments and National Real Estate Market Analysis

The country's current fiscal crises and the resultant effects of government over spending (I should probably hyphenate government-over-spending) is no surprise to most "thinking Americans". Spending is not the cure nor does it provide a positive upside or stimulus to turn things around. Quite the contrary. As historians state..."those who don't know history are bound to repeat it." I think FDR and Jimmy Carter were true tests of the fact that social programs bordering Marxism like the current bail out programs rewarding failure in the private sector and nationalizing banks don't work. A point to ponder...can America today be classified as a capitalistic free enterprise system? I've listened to all sides contributing facts and figures on our economy and housing market; most rebuff the Obama notion that spending will create jobs and thus stimulate the economy. A good number of Americans believe that working a job with conviction, raising a family, and "doing the right things in life" are the essential ingredients to success, happiness and wealth. We've all had tough times, but I'm convinced there is light at the end of the tunnel for all of us wanting to see the fabric of America restored and perpetuated for generations to come. A little side note here...just a week ago (Sunday, March 1st) the family held a memorial for my folks. Mom passed away in January 2009. Dad passed away in April 2005. We arranged for a military flag folding and taps. During the playing of taps and watching the three young representatives of our military fold the flag for the last time, caused me to reflect back as I often do, on just how lucky we are to live in America, and particularly to have occasion to revisit old American traditions as they apply to men and women who have served to keep our country safe, to live under a Constitution and Bill of Rights permitting us to worship God and be a free nation. Incredibly lucky we are.

As we witness what I would term an economic disaster, this too shall pass. We need to keep our heads up and be proud, while we endure, as hard as that may be.

God Bless America! Buy American! Be American! and, remember...borders, language and culture...the essential ingredients of building and maintaining a strong nation.

Now this just in:

ORLANDO, Fla., March 5, 2009 —Today eppraisal.com released its National Real Estate Market Analysis report for 182 markets across the continental U.S. This report, which tracks median sales price of residential homes, compares data on homes sold in August 2008 through October 2008 with homes sold in November 2008 through January 2009.

There are no surprises in the data with 89 percent of the markets tracked by eppraisal.com seeing a drop in the median sales price of homes sold between November ‘08 and January ‘09. The hardest hit areas were in Ohio, Michigan, and South Carolina where some cities saw more than a 20 percent drop in the median sales price. In Akron, Ohio, Toledo, Ohio, Sandusky, Ohio, and Dayton, Ohio, home prices were down 37 percent, 26 percent, 24.4 percent, and 23.6 percent respectively. In Michigan the Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills area saw a 29.4 percent decline to a median home price of $60,000. In South Carolina, Florence saw a 22.6 percent drop in the median sales price to $82,036. Sumter declined by 21.2 percent to $85,000.

click here to read entire article from eppraisal.com.