The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas reports home values for single family homes just took another blow in December to the tune of 0.4 percent which is in line with analyst expectations. We suppose because they expected it, that makes it all ok. Washington DC and San Diego continue to beat the odds.
New York, February 22, 2011 (Data through December 2010)
Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, show that the U.S. National Home Price Index declined by 3.9% during the fourth quarter of 2010. The National Index is down 4.1% versus the fourth quarter of 2009, which is the lowest annual growth rate since the third quarter of 2009, when prices were falling at an 8.6% annual rate. As of December 2010, 18 of the 20 MSAs covered by S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices and both monthly composites were down compared to December 2009. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco reported negative annual rates of return in December, leaving San Diego and Washington DC as the only two cities where home prices are increasing on a year-over-year basis, +1.7% and +4.1%, respectively.
source: S&P
