Back to the Future

[Ted]

  Yesterday, the Trib real estate section printed numbers that showed Berwyn housing prices decreased from an average sales price of $125,000 in the first quarter of 2011 to $110,000 for the first quarter in 2012.

YIKES!!!

I bought my house in 1985 (when Back to the Future came out as a movie) for $80,000.

At the current rate, my house will be worth $80K next year and I really will be back to the future.

  This is the same thing that happened to my grandparents with their bungalow in Englewood.  They were only able to get what they had paid for it 25 years before when they sold it in the mid 1960s.

[dualref]

And values have continued to decline since you wrote this original thread. What's causing the values to drop so fast. Looks like the best era was 2002-2004.

[berwynson]

The old Bohemian beliefs to which my Grandparents and Parents adhered have obviously become altered over those generations by the tides of change. Time was, even with the interest paid thrown in, long term investment in a home paid off for the mortgage payer. Seems not to apply anymore. Sad state of affairs. Welcome to "Socialized America"!   berwynson

[Ted]

The old Bohemian beliefs to which my Grandparents and Parents adhered have obviously become altered over those generations by the tides of change. Time was, even with the interest paid thrown in, long term investment in a home paid off for the mortgage payer. Seems not to apply anymore. Sad state of affairs. Welcome to "Socialized America"!   berwynson

  Huh?   Why do you believe Socialism is the reason for the problem?  Seems to be it was just the opposite - unethical Capitalists looking to make a buck off of people who could not afford a mortgage?

  Or are you referring to Fannie and Freddie?

[berwyn senator]

Washington was and still is the problem with the housing market,presently there is plenty of money being made from these abandoned homes.They are being bought cheap and fixed as cheap as possible.These homes look great when sold,look out in the next few years.I had some time and watched a home being prepared to be flipped,sad thing this was the third time this home was foreclosed. The thing that really bothers a person is that we remember when,Berwyn was the City of Homes.Don't get me wrong there are still some real nice areas in town,but I get sick when I see a home that used to be immaculate in just deplorable condition.