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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. * B( \. v1 y- k- r2 |" y+ ?& V8 b P8 Z
+ f9 H* h7 ~4 m1 C" XStandard & 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.! }8 t/ {* S( C% m+ g* n
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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.! L+ [: Q8 O7 a+ `
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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.1 ]' e0 w' g, T, w
/ k# D# x; M5 U. ["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.7 x2 W9 ?8 J4 `0 F9 }
* O% x! `5 `- @, ]# l; ANineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
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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. [$ _# }8 H( r/ x" r$ g+ Q
5 a4 e. v! B9 u! K. F7 T; ^Last 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.# w- S2 A. v M0 G& a& x
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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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" \! R1 t4 F2 J- x(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )3 z1 e8 B: K, x! O8 j% E+ n+ W
3 ^8 Q% T1 d/ o S) M+ z- T[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ] |
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