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.
$ U* o/ n, ]& D
" R  s9 w0 _1 V3 q) A9 {) I# x; `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.

8 L+ W' z6 ^7 j) W+ `3 k" @5 l; w+ aPrices 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.

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.
6 t/ [6 [* s% S6 u9 p3 s, M
"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.

Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.

# M4 I1 p+ ]# T7 @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.
7 }5 `: E- x8 i: R& J, s( K
0 U! B7 O0 X& L% ?9 jLast 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.

9 g1 C. _1 o0 D6 y6 R3 ~( Z$ RThe OFHEO index is narrower in scope and is calculated using mortgages of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That excludes properties bought with some of the riskier types of home loans.
, S  D* B0 w7 I8 i8 U$ _
  o+ p9 K$ K. y" `# v(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )

. C7 Y" |3 R. V2 t9 s. t$ f[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151