April 12, 2007

Home Prices Go Negative

Home Prices Go Negative

�

U.S. home prices continued to fall with prices in 10 major cities now down 0.7% year-over-year, according to Standard & Poor's and MacroMarkets LLC, which lately released the Case-Shiller price indexes.

�

The 10-city index is down 0.7% in the past year, the first year-over-year negative reading since 1996. The 20-city index is down 0.2% year-over-year. A year ago, prices were rising 15%.

�

"The annual declines in the composites are a good indicator of the dire state of the U.S. residential real estate market," said Robert J. Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets, in a statement.

�

"We look for price declines in the bubble regions but flat prices nationally," wrote Michelle Meyer, an economist for Lehman Bros. Goldman Sachs economists said they expect prices to fall 5% in 2007 compared with 2006.

�

Then leave us your comment about the article. We would love to hear from you!

�

Remember, First EXCLUSIVE Buyer’s Agent, Inc. is a real estate company providing the highest quality service for homebuyers seeking property throughout the Seattle area, including King County and Pierce County. If you'd like to search for Seattle real estate, or real estate in King County or Pierce County, simply click the "Search for Seattle Real Estate" link at the top or bottom of this page.