S&P: Home prices drop by record amount in 2Q
NEW YORK (AP) — A widely watched index released
Tuesday showed home prices dropping by the sharpest rate ever in the
second quarter, but the data for June suggest the severity of the
housing slump may be waning.
The Standard &
Poor’s/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tumbled a record
15.4 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago.
Still, on a year-over-year basis, no city in the Case-Shiller 20-city
index saw price gains in June, the third straight month that’s happened.
We’ve had
damaging housing busts in the past, but they’ve always been contained
to a specific region. Houston in the 1980’s and Florida in the 1920’s
taught us that even a localized housing bust could spread ripples of
discomfort far beyond their borders. This data showing that NO cities
in the index saw a price gain deserves some notice. First, because
we’ve never faced a truly nationwide housing bust before. Second,
because it says the correction is still in its early stages.
