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NEW YORK - U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed Tuesday, a somber indication that the housing slump continues to deepen.
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0 _* g% j7 ^" X6 ?# d2 w6 UStandard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988. The quarterly index covers all nine U.S. Census divisions. `% B5 V- U1 m! R1 e9 N
) I# o4 L' }. ^ n- U5 C* }Prices nationwide are at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2004, according to Maureen Maitland, a S&P vice president. However, the index is still up 60 percent versus 2000./ s Y1 k! z: l
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Two narrower indices set record declines in March versus the previous year. The 20-city index tumbled 14.4 percent, the lowest since that index was started in 2001. The 10-city index plunged 15.3 percent, a record in its 20-year history.
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"There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.
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. \: H: G4 \, z# X" KNineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent." n& V% e; {8 R/ Y: c& V5 t
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Las Vegas had the worst performance in March, falling 25.9 percent from a year earlier, followed by Miami and Phoenix. Only Charlotte, N.C., stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year.
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Y8 n% P- K, h N# pLast week, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said home prices fell 3.1 percent in the first quarter, the largest drop in its 17-year history and only the second quarter of price declines recorded.
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2 T- m0 o4 a# R3 e, BThe OFHEO index is narrower in scope and is calculated using mortgages of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. That excludes properties bought with some of the riskier types of home loans.1 P, k# S4 Q& {; R3 W1 z% j
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(This version CORRECTS that 20-city and 10-city metro area figures are for March sted 1st quarter) )
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8 Z+ b. }9 v4 V, E. w9 C# K[ 本帖最后由 水管工 于 2008-6-4 09:20 编辑 ] |
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