Foreclosures Pushing House Prices Lower

New York, NY, Nov. 25, 2008--House prices in 20 U.S. cities in September declined at the fastest pace on record as rising foreclosures pushed down property values.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 17.4 percent in September from a year earlierafter a 16.6 percent decline in August. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007, and year-over-year records began in 2001.

The growing number of foreclosures is depressing home prices, while adding to the inventory of unsold homes on the market.

Home prices decreased 1.8 percent in September from the prior month after declining 1 percent in August, the report showed.

S&P/Case-Shiller also released quarterly figures for nationwide home prices. That measure showed a 16.6 percent drop in the three months through September from the previous three months, compared with a 15.1 percent drop in the second quarter.