Business, like life itself, is tough – and what makes them so hard is that they are challenging for so many different factors, one of the biggest of which is the sheer unpredictability concerned. Nowhere has that been more true than in real estate recently, where just when it looked like things would improve, they take a turn rather towards the worse. Most major American metropolitan markets have experienced another round of fast falling prices recently due to all the foreclosures and vacant homes still around, not to mention the conclusion of the federal home buyer tax credit. At the close of the third quarter this year, prices dropped in a full nine out of ten areas tracked by Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller composite home price index.

The chief cities, such as New York and Los Angeles, appear to be doing all right considering the circumstances, but other metropolises such as Cleveland, Dallas, and Phoenix are not. Prices are falling dangerously fast and dangerously low in these bellwether cities, which also include Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon. These are “middle America” communities, better reflecting purely national trends instead of a place such as New York or Los Angeles, which can count much more on international factors as well, variables such as direct investment or regularly high levels of tourism, to help power the local economy.

Therefore, although seasoned industry professionals such as Isaac Toussie are still bullish on New York, they are concerned over housing challenges in the heartland. Cleveland prices dropped a whole three percent in September alone, while the unemployment rate in the area is at almost ten out of every hundred individuals. The other regional engines of Portland, Minneapolis, Phoenix, and even Dallas are all on dangerous downward trends as well, making local real estate markets a buyer’s one – though sales have been flat all this time.

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