Housing is Down Again
Housing Drops Again
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.8 percent in September from August
on a seasonally adjusted basis. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a decline of 0.3 percent. S&P, which publishes
the indexes, also said home prices in the 20 cities index rose 0.6 percent from September 2009, slower than the 1.1 percent
expected.
Housing Drops again-Washing and Las Vegas Post Gains
The index has risen 5.9 percent from their April 2009 bottom. But it remains nearly 28.6 percent below its
July 2006 peak. Prices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which had been increasing, both fell in August from July.
Washington and Las Vegas were the only metro areas to post gains in monthly prices.
Housing Drops Again-Job Worries
Prices rose in many cities from April through July, mostly boosted by government tax credits which have since expired. Job worries
and record high foreclosures are dampening buyer demand and weighing on prices. The national quarterly index, which measures home prices
in the nine U.S. census regions, dropped 2 percent in the third quarter from the previous quarter.
