Home prices are likely to decline in 2008 for the second straight year, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday, as the trade group released new readings showing addition weakness in the already battered home sale market.
The Realtors, in its monthly economic and sales outlook, is forecasting a 1.2% drop in prices of existing homes sold this year. A month ago it was still forecasting that prices would be flat this year and that a home market rebound in the last half of 2008 would make up for declines in the first half of the year.
Last year, when the median price slipped 1.4 from 2006 levels, was the first on record that the Realtors recorded full-year decline in existing home prices.
The group is also forecasting a 4.8% decline in the number of existing homes sold this year. A month ago it was still forecasting a 0.9% pickup in the sales. Existing home sales plunged 12.8% in 2007, according to the group's figures.
