Housing prices in Bermuda tumbled in 2011 with many properties on the Island now taking as long as a year or more to sell.Condos in the under $32,400 ARV sector were the hardest to sell, with double digit drops in both price and volume sold in 2011.As we reported yesterday, the luxury home market saw increases in the number of sales and average price.However, the under $153,000 ARV housing market suffered significantly in the economic downturn, representing less than half of the total property sales in 2010, Rego Sotheby’s International Realty’s 2011 figures showed.The average price of a house under $153,000 ARV declined six percent from 2010 to just under $1.2 million in 2011. There was a 38 percent drop in sales volume in that sector, with 66 homes sold last year (the number could change as it is not final for the year yet).For condos, the news was worse. The average price fell to $473,000, a 16 percent decline in average price for 2011 versus 2010. Sales volume decreased 14 percent, to just 18 condos sold.“The main factor for the decline in price and volume is without a doubt the economic climate,” said Buddy Rego, president and CEO of Rego Sotheby’s. “Also, there are clearly more conservative lending practices by the lending institutions - their criteria are more stringent than before.”He said the bottom line was that in 2008, sales volume in the then booming housing market was almost $680 million, compared to $250 million in 2011.Mr Rego said he was not optimistic the Island would see any significant increase in price or volume this year and it could even go lower.The amount of time homes are sitting on the market has also grown significantly.Penny MacIntyre, executive vice-president of Rego Sotheby’s, said 60 percent of the homes under $153,000 ARV in 2011 averaged 353 days on market, while 72 percent of the condos under $32,400 ARV in 2011 averaged 369 days on market. Data is only available for a particular percentage of the sales, because when the closings are collected from the land registry office, original list dates were not available.Figures for last year also showed rents for apartments and houses on the Island have come down by as much as 25 percent in the last five years.However, Mr Rego pointed out there is still actually demand for executive homes in the $12,000 to $15,000-and-higher range because of limited inventory.