actually house prices have only fallen 17.5% in the US and some analysts are saying it could fall another 20%
so all up that is 37.5%
if that were to happen here that would practically wipe out everbody's equity
but I think we should realise that the US is a complete basket case and that unemployment here will be less than there
I reckon then that the worst that could happen is that prices would fall 20%
if that would happen then people would only lose half the equity in their homes maybe $100,000
But the thing is people would only lose the equity if they were forced to sell.
based on the following article v v v US house prices keep on falling at record ratesFont Size: Decrease Increase Print Page: Print David Nason, New York correspondent | October 02, 2008
HOUSE prices in the US continue to fall at record rates, raising concerns that a new version of the $US700 billion ($875 billion) Wall Street bailout package to go before Congress this morning will provide only fleeting relief to the world's deeply troubled credit markets.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Schiller housing index shows prices in July down 16.3 per cent from a year ago in 20 US cities, a record downturn.
The decline in the top 10 cities was an even more alarming 17.5 per cent.
The data was accompanied by a grim Moody's Investors Service forecast that the bottom of the housing slump would not be reached until 2010.
Moody's had previously predicted a bottom by the middle of next year.
"The crisis in the US financial system makes clear that the troubles in the housing market and the broader economy will likely worsen before they improve," Moody's says.
"We believe that some home builders will not survive."
The forecast lends credence to the views of the super bears who say US home prices need to fall another 20 per cent before the housing and credit markets can stabilise.
