Declining Home Prices

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index released numbers today showing a board based decline in the price of single family homes across the US for 2007. The index dropped to a -8.9% in the 4th quarter, the largest decline in the 20-year history. The 10-City Composite index fell 9.8% over the same period of time, setting a new record low, while the 20-City Composite fell 9.1%.


The news release quoted Robert J. Shiller, Professor at Yale University, Chief Economist at MacroMarkets LLC and co-creator of the index:

"We reached a somber year-end for the housing market in 2007. Home prices across the nation and in most metro areas are significantly lower than where they were a year ago."

"Wherever you look things look bleak, with 17 of the 20 metro areas reporting annual declines and the remaining three reporting flat or moderate growth rates. Looking closely at these negative returns, you will see that 14 of the metro areas are also reporting record lows and eight are in double digit decline. The monthly data paint a similar picture, with all metro areas now reporting at least four consecutive negative monthly returns.”

Miami was the worst market for home values, sinking 17.5% in 2007. Las Vegas and Tampa tied for the second worst with values slipping 15.3%. The next three markets at the bottom were; San Diego (-15.0%), Los Angles (-13.7%) and Detroit (-13.6%).

Source:
http://www2.standardandpoors.com/spf/pdf/index/CSHomePrice_Release_022603.pdf
http://www.macromarkets.com/csi_housing/sp_caseshiller.asp