Home Prices Plunge Record 18.2 Percent

Home prices fell by a record 18.2 percent in the most recent quarter, compared to a year ago, according to new data out this morning from the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. It was the steepest decline on record for the index.

The index measures home prices in major metropolitan areas and on a national level. Indeed, a look at a chart of the index looks like the nation is tumbling down a very sharp cliff, which peaked in 2006.

“The broad downturn in the residential real estate market continues,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index committee at Standard & Poor’s, in a press release. “There are very few, if any, pockets of turnaround that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path, with all of the 20 metro areas reporting annual declines, and eight of those [metro areas] now with negative rates exceeding 20 percent."

In relative terms, the Washington D.C. area seems to be doing better than most, along with Boston, Denver, Los Angeles and San Diego. Each still show declining home values but at lesser rates of decline than a year ago. The seven worst performing cities were from the Sunbelt region: Phoenix (-34 percent), Las Vegas (-33 percent) and San Francisco (-31 percent.)

--Sara Goo

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