LA Home Prices Sink; Obama To Sidestep Congress On Housing Recovery
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — The White House said Tuesday that homeowners may need more help when it comes to housing prices in Southern California and across the nation.
KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports the housing slide continues to take a toll on homeowners throughout the Southland — many of whom are already struggling to pay their mortgage.
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Property values in Los Angeles and Orange counties are down .4 percent month-to-month from September, according to the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a drop that leaves prices down 3.5 percent overall from where they were in 2010.
And while some analysts are expecting a modest recovery in the housing market, Stan Lee with Zillow.com warned it likely won't be a V-shaped rebound.
"Anyone expecting home prices to be substantially higher next year is deluding themselves," said Lee.
Nationally, home prices fared slightly better, posting modest gains on average for the fifth straight month.
Meanwhile, the housing slump has emerged as a hot-button topic as President Barack Obama campaigns for a second term in 2012, and administration officials are suggesting he could use it to rally his support base.
Speaking to an audience in Nevada on Monday, Obama said "we can't wait for aan increasingly dysfunctional Congress to do its job. Where they won't act, I will," the Daily Caller reported.
Deputy White House spokesman Josh Earnest told KNX 1070 Americans can expect the president to go around Congressional lawmakers when it comes to housing.
"The president is looking at taking some executive actions that he can put in place," said Earnest.
