National single family home prices declined nearly eight percent in the first quarter 2008, says the National Association of Realtors. That's the greatest quarterly slide in decades, but the good news is that 48 out of 149 metros posted higher home price than a year ago.

You can look at the glass half full and say 100 metros went south, but even then, the numbers don't tell the whole story. A disproportionate number of metros beleaguered by foreclosures and lack of jumbo loan bottlenecks on the West coast and other high-cost markets are impacting sales and prices. In the West, the median existing single-family home price was $296,300 in the first quarter, over 12 percent below a year ago.

"This is the area hardest hit by the slowdown in jumbo mortgage loan origination, which is just now starting to improve," says Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR.

Areas that appealed to speculators or to subprime borrowers without the income to afford median housing fared the worst.

California's foreclosure crisis has gotten worse with every month. In the first quarter, according to DataQuick, more than 500 foreclosures a day were reported in California. By April, more than 1,000 foreclosed homes were auctioned off every weekday on the courthouse steps in municipalities across the state, says ForeclosureRadar, an auction-tracking firm.

That explains why home sales were down 49 percent in Los Angeles in March and prices were down 27 percent year-over-year in Riverside. San Diego sales dropped by over one-third and prices sank over 19 percent.

The high-cost markets are wreaking havoc with national median prices, which are typical market prices, says the NAR. Today, median home prices are $196,000, down from $212,000 a year ago quarter.

The subprime mortgage problem is another reason home prices are down. While only 10 percent of all homeowners have subprime mortgages, those papers account for more than half of all foreclosures.

Which goes to show that the rules of investment haven't changed. Prices go up and they can come down. If buyers are in it for the long term, they'll continue to do well.

According to the NAR, homeowners who have owned their homes since first quarter 2002, have accumulated a 23 percent gain in equity or $37,700 on the median priced home.

Published: May 14, 2008

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.