Us property market on track to hit bottom in early 2012, it is predicted

The housing market in the United States could be nearing bottom as despite recent economic turmoil, property values remained almost unchanged from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2011.

Residential property values fell just 0.2% quarter on quarter according to Zillow's third quarter Real Estate Market Reports. It also shows prices are down 4.4% year on year and down 28.8% since they peaked in June 2006.

A lower rate of foreclosure liquidations coupled with relatively flat home values caused negative equity to rise in the third quarter with 28.6% of single family home owners with mortgages underwater, compared to 26.8% in the second quarter.

A home owner is in negative equity when they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. While the pace of foreclosures has slowed, liquidations remained high in September, with 8.7 out of every 10,000 homes being liquidated.

Source: PropertyWire.com