So much for the recent run of positive housing news.
Home prices dived 19.4% on an annual basis for 10 major cities, according to the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price data, which measures values in large metropolitan areas around the country for its 10-city and 20-city composites.
In terms of geography, Case-Shiller’s 10-city composite includes Boston, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
Prices plunged nearly as far for the 20-city composite, which includes those same 10 cities plus Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Seattle, and Tampa. This index recorded a 19% annual drop in January.
“Home prices, which peaked in mid-2006, continued their decline in 2009,” said David M. Blitzer, who chairs the index committee at Standard & Poor’s. “There are very few bright spots 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 nine of the [metropolitan statistical areas] falling more than 20% in the last year.”
Former housing hot spots continue to suffer from these trends, with Phoenix home prices tumbling 35% in January, followed by Las Vegas (down 32.5%), and San Francisco (down 32.4%). In comparison, other cities and their suburbs escaped relatively unscathed. Home prices in Dallas, for example, declined just 4.9% on an annual basis in January. Other “survivor” markets include Denver (down 5.1%) and Cleveland (down 5.2%).
Alison Rice is senior editor, online, at BUILDER magazine.
Learn more about markets featured in this article: Atlanta, GA, Phoenix, AZ.
