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.
* X0 G2 d% y+ y8 B$ Y, \1 s9 h
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.

. i7 b) K" Z7 T5 P- G# gPrices 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.

6 M0 S0 r/ @# k* Q7 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.
$ p3 }- ?% u$ U0 w
"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 f8 l4 Y, w9 Z3 L
Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent.
3 G- Z0 |( s( z
: t) o6 R. e: Z# ~* g$ w" eLas 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 d" R6 j, L5 Q1 J
( S$ K, U( g' t! K+ D9 G, x+ GLast 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.
& s; o, K3 V# v0 a- }. p
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.
& j% z9 \9 z9 m
(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )

7 |8 L* g' `* l0 K[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ]

yj151