Survey: Home Prices Take Record Plunge
A widely watched measure of home prices -- the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price national index -- reported that prices nationally dropped 16.6 percent in the third quarter (pdf) compared with the same period a year ago, beating the previous record decline of 15.1 percent during the second quarter of this year.
The index is useful in comparing regions and cities against each other to find weak and strong housing markets.
The hardest-hit housing markets, according to the index, were, from the bottom up: Phoenix (-31.9 percent), Las Vegas (-31.3) and San Francisco (-29.5).
The two hottest cities, such as they are, were Dallas, down 2.7 percent; and Charlotte, down 3.5 percent.
-- Frank Ahrens
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Frank Ahrens
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November 25, 2008; 1:34 PM ET
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| Tags: economic indicators, home prices
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Posted by: Joejunior | November 25, 2008 4:48 PM | Report abuse
joe,
if prices go down, but your income (or wealth) goes down, are you better off?
Posted by: stearm | November 25, 2008 6:28 PM | Report abuse
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Taking a broader view, it is good news that home prices are falling. People need to be able to afford to buy a home with a reasonable income, without borrowing so much money that any hiccup will put the home at risk. The cost of housing must fall so that housing is affordable to the average American.