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.
/ b) _0 O, _6 K% F0 i( F
4 @, G# D4 M* @1 lStandard & 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.
; [: ~1 L9 W9 a0 N
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.
8 T! T$ \7 C, }0 ?
, @5 @, f. B% ^. ]# f! \) FTwo 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) s' c6 U% f! y
5 E& x6 }% j3 A0 I$ r: 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.
0 _, \: D2 i. n( t% d: R- j
$ t8 |! {  P! J/ T3 X5 L% zNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.

* h' p# \# G. ?( sLas 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.

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.
8 {, S% L5 s3 b* F
0 W/ M; c1 C6 o: q' t5 |. c/ C" }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 A% g) J8 w  E% m7 x" z. ^, q
(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
' \# f. |* G# B, Y4 S3 Z' x
[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151