Prices in six cities move to lowest levels since housing bust
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Home prices tumbled in October, according to data released Tuesday, with six cities setting new lows as the housing market remains divorced from the upturn seen in other parts of the U.S. economy.
The non-seasonally-adjusted S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home-price index fell 1.3% on a monthly basis and 0.8% on an annual basis in October. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected a 0.6% decline in the annual figure.
Prices hadn’t dropped on an annual basis since January and are 29.6% below their peak.
“The double dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since the 2006 peaks,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s. “There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall.”
Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland, Seattle and Tampa hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007.
“The tax incentives are over, and the national economy remained lackluster in October, the month covered by these data. Existing-home sales and housing starts have been reported for both October and November, and neither is giving any sense of optimism,” Blitzer added.
The Case-Shiller report is based on prices over a three-month period, so this report included prices from August, September and October.
The weakness in the report didn’t translate to weakness in the stock market in opening trade. Builders (ITB 13.28, -0.08, -0.59%) opened lower but banks improved, as did the broader stock market (SPX 1,257, -0.88, -0.07%) .
