Ten Largest Rent Declines Over the Past Twelve Months

As this WSJ graph illustrates, rents continue to decline nationwide.

Just like other previous bubbles,  greed and irrationality were the main components that drove this one too. Investors naively refused to recognize the fact that all real estate markets are cyclical. Rents and home prices kept being increased under the assumption that prices would endlessly be absorbed by tenants and buyers alike. And of course, the end result was a major real estate market crush ; effects of which will continue to  deteriorate the housing market thorough 2009 and possibly 2010 as the flight to less expensive homes in all price levels continues.

Graph: WSJ

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