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.

! S" c8 {" M. ~6 G" }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.

4 V7 }  y- A+ H0 c# t* \5 w' Z% sPrices 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.

: l5 V  [, ^0 m9 qTwo 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.

3 Q8 n( T% V! v( [0 `; v, @! `% b1 `"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.

" H3 I( j2 m% M7 a# [* gNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
5 q( W6 m7 P3 r; `. R0 q( u% e
* ?$ A" `* }% }- u- d4 ]- N, tLas 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.

  I4 C/ c7 \0 f' P+ G6 BLast 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.
8 S( h* x) b+ r; s8 \, x
The OFHEO index is narrower in scope and is calculated using mortgages of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That excludes properties bought with some of the riskier types of home loans.
2 W/ e$ c. h6 H; J
3 p1 {) z4 V5 k  {- ?" r) q(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
3 J) j9 W* Q" f: ^. M
[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151