Home Prices Continue To Fall

New York, NY, Jan. 27, 2009--Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 18.2 percent in November from 2007, the fastest drop on record, as foreclosures climbed and sales sank.

The decrease in the S&P/Case-Shiller index was in line with forecasts and followed an 18.1 percent drop in October. The gauge started falling in January 2007, and year-over-year records began in 2001.

Economists forecast the 20-city index would fall 18.4 percent from a year earlier.

Compared with a year earlier, all areas in the 20-city survey showed a decrease in prices in November, led by a 33 percent drop in Phoenix and a 32 percent decline in Las Vegas.

“The freefall in residential real estate continued through November,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. “Overall, more than half of the metro areas had record annual declines.”

The 20-city index is down 25 percent from its 2006 peak. Eleven of the 20 metropolitan areas showed record declines in the year ended in November, and eight showed the biggest month-to- month decrease on record.