Fiserv Case-Shiller map
If you're waiting for real estate prices in the Baltimore area to get back to their pre-housing-bust peak, don't hold your breath -- unless you can hold it for six years.
That's the message from Fiserv, which provides the data used for the Case-Shiller index and has put together a price forecast with Moody's Economy.com. They predict that prices in the Baltimore metro area will bottom out in the last three months of this year -- dropping about 22 percent in total -- but won't return to their previous peak until the summer of 2016.
It could be worse. Much worse. Fiserv expects that Orlando and Sacramento won't equal their price peaks until -- wait for it -- after 2039.
But it also could be better.
"In fact, our analysis projects that some markets are poised for a relatively fast recovery, including some areas that never experienced large declines in prices," said David Stiff, Fiserv's chief economist. "Markets that could see prices come back within the next few years include Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Columbia, South Carolina and several metro areas in Texas, Washington and upstate New York."
First American CoreLogic had a report out recently that predicted how long underwater borrowers would need to wait to get abovewater. No quick and easy way out of this mess.
Not the best way to kick off a Friday, but hey -- at least the weekend's just around the corner.