The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports today that the new median home price (from October) dropped a whopping 19% from the September number to its lowest sum since 2002: $169,900.

With foreclosures at all-time highs, short sales and auctions on the courthouse steps are the major factors applying downward pressure on prices.

Since it wasn’t all that long ago that we were talking about the need for affordable housing, one problem, at least, is getting solved. In fact, just from a little informal research, there are many properties available below $100,000 now.

Have prices bottomed out? I don’t think so.

The numbers suggest that local values are falling much more rapidly than the national average. At this rate, the local economy has some major additional bumps in the road… especially when you consider that a significant percentage of ARMs taken out when prices were soaring have yet to adjust.

The bottom line? That equity you had in 2005 and 2006 wasn’t real… unless you happened to sell at or near the peak.