Uh oh!
(European) property values fell to their lowest level in 30 years in September, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. According to another report, home sales fell to 17,000 in June 2008 from 105,000 in June of 2007, and that was before the financial collapse of late summer and fall.
Prices have fallen 15 percent in the last year with some local experts predicting a 50 percent drop before the bottom is reached. As many as 60,000 homeowners are dipping into “negative equity” per month. The U.S. market began to fall in late 2005. The U.K. market stayed strong until last year, but now it is falling fast.
Perhaps the best quote:
Estate agents (the equivalent of a Realtor in the U.K.), unlike the U.S., do not have their pictures on their business cards and do not market themselves or their properties like the go-go Realtors in America.
We vote for no more Realtor pictures on anything anywhere, except where beauty contests are involved.
–Brits get thumped like U.S. [Inman News]