Home values will continue to fall in 2008 for the first time since 1996, according to a forecast released Wednesday by the California Association of Realtors. A California home’s median price is expected to decline 4 percent to $553,000. This year, the median was $576,000, the association reported. Lower-priced housing markets will feel the pinch in 2008 to a greater degree than high-priced markets. Regions in the Central Valley will be most affected, the association said. But higher-priced markets, including the Valley, will also be impacted. The great number of California homes for sale is viewed as the major problem in state residential real estate. The association said in August that it would take 18.5 months to sell all the homes on the market in the state at that time.
