Prices were down 20-30% in 4th quarter 2008 for high end Los Angeles homes. The same thing happened here in San Francisco. People thought high end property was safe. It wasn’t, it just took longer to start to fall, that’s all.
One problem is that mortgages, especially jumbos (which would be needed to buy these homes) are very difficult to get now.
The difficulty in being approved is arguably one of the biggest roadblocks many buyers who would like to purchase at existing prices are facing. Understandable considering what’s happened but it does make things harder in getting homes off the market.
Yeah, just getting approved is the downfall. Even with perfect credit you’ve got to jump through some pretty serious hoops. This has been our personal experience anyway.