Housing Prices Plummet
as Families Flee City

For the twenty-third month in a row, more Gothamites left the city than newcomers moved in. The October numbers were released yesterday by City Hall, and they show a housing market in free fall, with home sales at their lowest in 19 years. "The market now is unstable, and investors hate instability," said market watcher and real estate analyst Milas Miller. It's not just the housing market that is suffering from a population decline. A shrinking tax base is damaging the city's economic health. City Hall predicts the highest deficit budget shortfall ever this year, and observers are already muttering about the city's bond rating being reduced to junk level. The only solution seems to be to bring families back into the city. But with crime at an all-time high, population growth isn't likely, said Miller.