2002 Level Home Values, Average Price Per Square Foot = $91, REOs, Distressed Properties = 86% of All Sales

BB2: Wake up people!

From bakersfield.com:

By one measure, Bakersfield home prices fell to late 2002 levels last month and are on pace to hit 1998 levels this spring, a monthly report from appraiser Gary Crabtree found.
The average price per square foot sank to just more than $91 in January, down more than 33 percent from a year earlier, landing back at its December 2002 value.
Other highlights from the Preliminary Crabtree Report released over the weekend include:
• The median sales price was $125,000, more than 45 percent lower than a year earlier, when it was $230,000.
• Sales volume was more than double a year earlier with 517 homes sold, though it dropped from December’s tally of 660.
• Foreclosed and other distressed properties made up 86 percent of sales.
• The median could reach $90,000 in May — its December 1998 value — if prices continue to decline at the current pace.
The report includes sales of existing single-family homes in the metro area.