Houses on the United States real estate market are expected to lose about 1.7 trillion dollars of their value in 2010, way above losses in 2009 of 1.05 trillion dollars, mostly because of a more accelerated rate of foreclosures.
A study conducted by real estate data company Zillow shows that until November, less than 25 percent of the 129 housing markets the company follows will have value gains for 2010.
According to the Zillow, 31 markets out of the 129 had a positive evolution. The top three are Virginia Beach in Virginia, adding 19.04 billion dollars to its market value, followed by Boston with an increase of some 10.77 billion dollars and San Diego, with a 10.18 billion dollars slide-up.
The real estate data firm estimates that the US housing market value has lost approximately 9 trillion dollars since its peak in 2006.
About one trillion dollars of the lost value incurred in the second half of 2010, as tax credits expired for those who bought their first home, while market value gains were concentrated in the first half of the year.
Company representatives have no optimistic forecasts for next year. The first half of 2011 will not bring much relief to the market, they say. They are hoping for the market to finally reach a bottom and stop falling, thus allowing for steady regeneration in the next three to five years.