home prices 2: Case-shiller home price index
Home prices off record 18.5% in past year, data show
Case-Shiller's December figures show broad-based retreat for prices
By Ruth Mantell, MarketWatch
Last Update: 12:40 PM ET 2/24/09
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Underscoring the widespread weakness in the U.S. housing market, home prices in 20 major cities dropped 2.5% in December from the prior month and were down a record 18.5% from the final month of 2007, according to the Case-Shiller home price index published Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.
Years of appreciation have been wiped out, with average home prices standing back at levels similar to those seen late in 2003.
Prices in eight of the areas are down more than 20% from the prior year. And for the original 10-city index compiled by Case-Shiller, prices fell by a record 19.2% for the year, and by 2.3% in December.
"There are very few, if any, pockets of turnaround that one can see in the data," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.
"Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path, with all of the 20 metro areas reporting annual declines, and eight of those now with negative rates exceeding 20%," he said.
Prices have fallen in all 20 cities compared with last month and a year ago.
The largest declines in December and for the year were in Phoenix, with price drops of 5.1% and 34%, respectively. Las Vegas prices are down 33% from the prior year, and San Francisco prices are down 31%. See full S&P release for breakdown of all 20 metropolitan areas.
"Obviously these are the regions that saw the largest build-up during the boom so it isn't surprising to see them hit the hardest on the way down," said Dan Greenhaus of the equity strategy group at Miller Tabak. "The unfortunate reality is that the 'way down' is impacting people who were either prudent in their housing choices or simply not involved at all to begin with.
"But as long as home prices continue to decline, and they should, prospective buyers have reason to stay on the sidelines," he said.
Click here to read why you should stay on the housing sidelines in 2009.
Click here to read why now is a good time to buy a house.
Also Tuesday, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported that prices on homes sold across the U.S. fell 8.2% in the fourth quarter from the year-earlier period and skidded 3.4% from the third quarter. Prices have tumbled 10.9% from their April 2007 peak, FHFA said.
For December, prices rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% from November, but they were down 8.7% from the prior year. The government survey, which reviews a broader geographical area than Case-Shiller, only covers conforming mortgages.
The White House recently unveiled a plan to help 9 million "at risk" homeowners modify their mortgages, and committed $75 billion of taxpayer money to back the initiative. Read more on the mortgage plan.
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