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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.
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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./ A7 e2 s- f. c
% _# K& l4 N: O4 x2 RPrices 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.
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0 n- _3 q6 G4 y& ?& M% uTwo 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.8 N2 q, @- s/ J O. J5 G6 t
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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.5 ]+ }2 [/ i' W: t5 J
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Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.4 l4 {7 R+ U! H1 \0 p w4 ~+ ]% b4 w* q
' S% R7 ?9 I2 N7 j% YLas 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.1 I. {8 m+ G% m- w6 ]
- G# D8 s2 R- a3 ELast 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.6 G& A4 o( C- p( r* i
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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.2 Z( J& c4 } C4 `+ _ R1 @, ~
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(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) ), s) d% \. r& m, ]
i! {" d- H( }. W# o4 K- R[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ] |
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