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* K, j) v8 Z5 z) D. J- u
. K; k: T  W5 `5 |3 e4 aStandard & 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.
6 O' v9 o5 x; s" ^+ ~: d$ a1 ^
7 z; r( k8 z1 R7 C2 T" j: jPrices 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.

4 [# ~- `1 v( m6 }- Z1 x" }$ I"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.
) s3 h) X& i4 o- @' s, t1 W
, y4 x$ w4 Q- r* `% M  oNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
! V( ]" B1 s% l+ D
2 Q8 }" F# \- n: ^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.
& ^2 v+ ~7 ~3 z  G4 z
' D5 r3 t* }1 }0 G, J8 U# R  A% xLast 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.

3 u4 r8 f! V  s+ ~2 g) o! ]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.

3 l1 f3 ]2 o9 s$ J- W  H(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )

9 F- f$ a2 }+ @2 W[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151