S&P: US home prices tumble a record 14.1 pct in 1Q

[marmar]

AP, via Yahoo!:



S&P: US home prices tumble a record 14.1 pct in 1Q
Tuesday May 27, 10:57 am ET
By J.W. Elphinstone, AP Business Writer
Widely watched housing index says US home prices fell at steepest rate in 20 years in 1st qtr


NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed Tuesday, a somber indication that the housing slump continues to deepen.

Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988. The quarterly index covers all nine U.S. Census divisions.

Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2004, according to Maureen Maitland, a S&P vice president. However, the index is still up 60 percent versus 2000.

Two narrower indices set record declines in March versus the previous year. The 20-city index tumbled 14.4 percent, the lowest since that index was started in 2001. The 10-city index plunged 15.3 percent, a record in its 20-year history.

"There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.

Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.

Las Vegas had the worst performance in March, falling 25.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Miami and Phoenix. Only Charlotte, N.C., stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080527/home_prices.html

[papau]

1. Badly stated headline - it is just year over year reduction - up 2%