| |
 |
|
|
Finance & Stock Groups Forum Index » Real Estate » WSJ: Home Prices Post Record Decline
Page 1 of 1
|
| Author |
Message |
| Guest |
 Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 9:50 pm |
|
|
|
|
REAL ESTATE
Wall Street Journal
OCTOBER 28, 2008, 4:18 P.M. ET
Home Prices Post Record Decline
By DONNA KARDOS
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price indexes, a closely watched gauge of
U.S. home prices, showed prices in August continue to decline, with
areas along the Sun Belt being hit hardest.
David M. Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's index committee, noted
there were "very few bright spots in the data." Among them is that the
acceleration in decline from July to August was "only moderate."
Home prices fell a record 17% in August. Maureen Maitland of Standard
& Poor's discusses the recent decline in the Case Shiller index of
home prices. Have prices hit bottom? Stacey Delo reports. (Oct. 29)
The indexes showed home prices in 10 major metropolitan areas fell a
record 17.7% in August from a year earlier and 1.1% from July. The
drop marks the 10-city index's 11th-straight monthly report of a
record decline.
In 20 major metropolitan areas, home prices dropped 16.6% from the
prior year, also a record, and 1% from July.
Both the 10-city and 20-city composites have been declining year over
year for 20 straight months.
Just two of the 20 regions were able to avoid price declines in August
over July -- Cleveland, with 1.1% growth, and Boston, which eked out a
0.1% gain.
Month-to-month decliners were led by San Francisco, which posted a
3.5% drop. Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego each had declines of more
than 2%.
For the fifth-straight month, no region was able to avoid a year-over-
year price drop. Phoenix and Las Vegas again were among those posting
the largest drops, both in excess of 30%. Miami, San Francisco, Los
Angeles and San Diego were close behind, with declines of more than
25%.
Bargain Hunters Help Shrink Housing Inventories
Year-over-year, Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., had the best relative
performance, with declines of 2.7% and 2.8%, respectively.
The Case-Shiller data came a day after a government report on
September new-home sales showed home builders have stepped toward
reducing the oversupply of homes, with sales estimated to have risen
2.7% last month.
That report came on top of one released last week that said sales of
previously occupied homes rose 1.4% in September from a year earlier
as banks slashed prices on foreclosed properties. The increase marked
the first time since November 2005 that sales topped year-earlier
levels, showing bargain hunters are nibbling at a glut of homes.
Still, the glut remains, as credit stays tight and the outlook bleak
as mounting job losses have added another layer of stress on American
homes.
Last week, government-backed mortgage investor Freddie Mac showed
rising borrowing costs have constrained its ability to push down
interest rates by channeling more money into the mortgage market. The
focus now turns to the Federal Reserve, which is expected to lower its
target interest rate by at least a half-percentage point to 1% after
its meeting Tuesday and Wednesday.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122519826778275869.html |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| |
|
Page 1 of 1
All times are GMT
The time now is Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:38 pm
|
|
|