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

水管工

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.

) _6 S, m; J3 z# R$ ZStandard & 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.
7 [4 m- B5 a9 p8 [
7 n( A, m2 ]  NPrices 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.

! ?  Q: S* _$ Y2 rTwo 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.
5 ]' m  j2 p1 j0 ~& \/ |( c
. S( y8 u' u7 |+ _$ v) k"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.
3 j; p. S; \2 X; i  l: \. t
- X3 {; e3 c" y3 i1 e4 W3 V5 QNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
2 {' G3 n5 L3 {1 d: ~4 A' S$ ^
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.

. Z  ]' T7 Y( L6 CLast 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.
$ S% @6 ]0 A6 P5 G( P
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.

4 j7 T$ Q$ U# I! f; o# K5 v(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
6 Q8 K$ M' T, k) E" F0 J9 P
[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151