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NEW YORK - 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. ' y$ y/ I0 E* C2 f' L( H* m4 p7 d" C
: s8 p3 F' w) c0 p+ ?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.- g$ x2 m" l" y. u
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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 2000.5 G: O' ^9 }, a7 N; c" j* K* z. G2 ~
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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.) j* P. T+ C% _* x9 d% ^ G: A
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"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.+ M5 ]& C4 k/ [6 J0 x- I! A$ d
# R" J- q% X! c) vNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.2 E5 f( G+ y U/ P& o% N
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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.
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3 D I! }% Z! _% \8 y- ULast week, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter, the largest drop in its 17-year history and only the second quarter of price declines recorded.
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The OFHEO index is narrower in scope and is calculated using mortgages of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That excludes properties bought with some of the riskier types of home loans.
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2 x. I7 Z* y' W1 ~(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
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% D$ D0 T2 w+ J( B. ?) A* p5 [[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ] |
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