Home values are expected to fall 3.6% by next June

According to Fiserv, a financial analytics company, home values are expected to fall 3.6% by next June (CNN Money).

However, interest rates are going to hold steady for the next year, so this should help buyers in continuing to be able to afford to buy homes. Fortunately, in this area, we have not suffered as much as in many other parts of the country. There is information out there that leads us to believe there will be more foreclosures in 2012 compared to last year. On another note, it has been reported that the National Association of Realtors (NAR) have over-counted previously-owned home sales for the last five years. This is thought to be due to home sales being double-counted, for example, a single sale being listed on more than one list. Some new home sales were also mistakenly included. Consequently, previously-owned home sales since January 2007 were much lower than thought. The data will be revised down next week. The NAR has since developed a new model that will allow them to discover discrepancies a lot sooner in the future.  (CNBC.com)