September 25, 2007
Its no longer just a case of sluggish home sales. Data through July released today by Standard & Poor's for its S&P;/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, shows home values are falling sharply over wide regions of the U.S.
The figures show a continuation of negative annual returns in the 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite, as well as 15 of the 20 metro area indices.
Both composite indices have registered negative annual growth rates since the beginning of the year. In addition, both indices rate of decline has become larger in each of the seven months from January through July.
The 10-City Composite was down 4.5 percent versus July of 2006, while the 20-City Composite was down 3.9 percent over the same time period.
"The decline in home prices clearly continued into the summer months," says Robert J. Shiller, Chief Economist at MacroMarkets LLC. "The year-over-year decline reported for the 10-City Composite is the lowest since July 1991. The lowest annual decline in this index, which dates back to January 1987, was -6.3 percent, which was reported in April 1991.
"The further deceleration in prices is still apparent across the majority of regions, with 16 of the 20 metro areas showing a drop in their annual growth rate from what was reported in June."
While five of the metro areas -- Atlanta, Charlotte, Dallas, Portland and Seattle -- are still registering positive annual returns, all five have shown deceleration in their rates of growth during the past year. Both Atlanta and Dallas are getting closer to joining 15 other metro areas in registering a year-over-year decline in home prices.
