Family Life

12.09.09 | FL News Team

Nearly half a trillion dollars in home equity evaporated this year as the housing market continued its nosedive. Real estate website Zillow.com crunched the numbers and said the country still did better than last year, when housing values tanked by three-point-six trillion dollars. Zillow's chief economist tagged Los Angeles as the market most in freefall. Houses in the City of Angels lost a collective 61-billion dollars in value, compared to a near-collapse in 2008 when declined by 346-billion dollars. Its total home values now stands at one-point-seven trillion dollars.

 Chicagoland ranked second on the losers list as housing values dropped nearly 50-billion dollars through November of this year. That's a more than ten-percent drop but still better than 2008, when 94-billion dollars of equity vanished in the Chicago metro area. The new housing base is about 689-billion dollars.

 A third of the 154 markets that Zillow tracks reported increases, led by Boston with a more than 23-billion-dollar gain. The Boston metro area's total housing value's now about 540-billion dollars. But Zillow's chief economist warns there could be another dip coming after first quarter next year. The Seattle-based website warns of a possible trifecta of bad news this spring as tax-credits expire, mortgage rates rise and foreclosures climb.