Home Prices Fell 2.2% in February, S&P/Case Shiller

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index for the month of February was released today by Standard & Poor’s. The report shows continued broad based declines in the prices of existing single family homes across the U.S.

Home prices in all 20 metro areas in the 20-city index fell 2.2% in February after a record 2.8% decline in January, S&P reported. However, this is the first time in 16 months where the 10- and 20-City Composites did not post a record annual decline.

The S&P Case-Shiller National Home Price Index reported annual declines of 18.8% and 18.6%, respectively. This is a slight improvement compare to January, where they fell by 19.4% and 19.0%, respectively.

Case-Shiller’s index of 20 major metropolitan areas reported negative monthly and annual rates of change in average home prices in February. Prices fell in all 20 major cities led by a 5% drop in Cleveland, S&P said.

In terms of annual declines, the three worst performing cities continue to be Phoenix down 35.2%, Las Vegas down 31.7% and San Francisco with a decline of 31.0%. Dallas, Denver and Boston faired the best in terms of annual declines down 4.5%, 5.7% and 7.2%, respectively. In February, prices in the Dallas metro area performed the best, dropping just 0.3%.

Home prices in all of the 20 metro areas are in double digit declines from their peak with ten posting declines of greater than 30% and seven of those — Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, San Francisco and San Diego — in excess of 40%.

Graph: S&P

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