US house prices plumb new depths

[CHIMO]

House prices in 11 of the biggest US cities have hit new lows, according to the latest data. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed a monthly fall in December in all but two of the 20 cities it tracks.

The continued pressure on housing prices has been widely seen by economists as a major drag on economic recovery.

In the once red-hot property market of Las Vegas, home prices fell in December to levels last seen in 1999, burdened by foreclosures and an unemployment rate of 14.5%. Prices in the city have declined for three consecutive months, according to Standard & Poor's data.

Speculators also built furiously in Phoenix, Arizona, and Miami during the boom and those cities have also been hit hard. The 11 cities that have reached their lowest point since the housing bust in 2006 and 2007 are Atlanta (Georgia), Charlotte (North Carolina), Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle and Tampa (Florida).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/feb/22/us-housing-market-plumbs-new-depths