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.
( J- B0 D8 e7 ]- L$ [1 D
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.
* `7 v4 Z# K. |- n1 P1 [* i' E) \: N/ Q
4 ^7 d& m+ j" b8 iPrices 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.

' p$ ?& J. e8 sTwo 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.
- t( @6 T4 Z8 e0 ^8 N
"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.
. _9 I/ x( s5 \8 `$ Y3 h+ D
Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
9 `* |2 Y+ c8 X( q2 i: z  ?' l
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.
3 h- j, w7 t3 T: F/ d
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.
( Z5 X8 Y0 Q6 Y, K
4 ^3 C& @! ^1 C9 G9 zThe 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.

9 T9 M% O$ W+ {+ Y$ r% _8 N+ ](This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
7 _  M4 F3 h# t& m
3 K5 `. Q4 X; i; h- c; ?[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151