Home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas fell in March more than forecast as foreclosures surged, threatening to extend the housing slump.
The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index decreased 18.7 per cent from March 2008, matching the drop in the year ended in February.
The measure declined 19 per cent in January, the most since data began in 2001.
Record foreclosures are depressing the value of other properties, contributing to a slump in household wealth that is hurting consumer spending and the economy. Still, falling prices and mortgage rates have made homes more affordable, helping to stem the slide in sales, which will eventually help prices stabilize.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 index added to earlier losses following the report. The contract’s price was down 0.6 per cent to 879.6 at 9.15am in New York.
Treasury securities were up, pushing yields down. Economists forecast the index would drop 18.3 per cent from a year earlier.
Compared with a month earlier, home prices decreased 2.2 per cent in March, also the same as in February, today’s report showed.
The price figures aren’t adjusted for seasonal effects, so economists prefer to focus on year-over-year changes.
Today’s report also showed prices nationally fell 19.1 per cent in the first quarter from the same period last year, the largest drop in the index’s 21-year history, and were down 7.5 from the last three months of 2008.
All 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year price decrease in March, led by Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
Bloomberg