房市低迷,房价急剧下挫

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The US housing market continues to deteriorate with both prices and sales tumbling in November. Prices of existing homes are down more than 13% on average from just a year ago that’s the biggest annual drop since records were started back in 1968. Sales of existing homes fell 8.6% last month and new home sales fell just under 3% to the lowest level since 1991.Now existing home prices are down across all parts of the US, prices have fallen more than 25% in the west,11% in mid-west and 10% in the south, and the northeast which experienced a smaller run-up in prices saw prices remain relatively steady last month down just one tenth of one percent. But the hardest-hit region, the medium home in the west of US, was $325,400 a year ago, today that same home is valued at 242,500 dollars, that’s a decline in value of almost 83,000 bucks. Now tumbling prices are creating a buying opportunity for bargain hunters .The National Association of Realtors chief economist said last month roughly 45% of homes purchased across the country were of distressed properties.

bargain hunter 买便宜货的人;投机商人,杀价购买股票的投机商

distressed properties Real estate that is under foreclosure or impending foreclosure because of insufficient income production.

distressed  adj. (informal, chiefly US)(of property) offered for sale cheaply due to mortgage foreclosure or because it is part of an insolvent estate. (非正式，主美)（房地产）（因丧失抵押房产赎回权或因该房产系其价值不足以偿付债务的地产的一个部分而）贱卖的