S&P Case-Shiller: Home Prices Off to a Dismal Start

U.S. single family home prices fell for the seventh straight month in January, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s. Prices fell in 13 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by the closely watched survey in January compared with December. Eleven of the 20 cities fell to the lowest levels since home prices peaked in 2006 and 2007.

From S&P: Home Prices Off to a Dismal Start in 2011

Data through January 2011, released today by Standard & Poor’s for its S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices …. show further deceleration in the annual growth rates in 13 of the 20 MSAs and the 10- and 20-City Composites compared to the December 2010 report. The 10-City Composite was down 2.0% and the 20-City Composite fell 3.1% from their January 2010 levels. San Diego and Washington D.C. were the only two markets to record positive year-over-year changes. However, San Diego was up a scant 0.1%, while Washington DC posted a healthier +3.6% annual growth rate. The same 11 cities that had posted recent index level lows in December 2010, posted new lows in January.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, said [via Reuters] “The housing market recession is not yet over. At most, we have seen all statistics bounce along their troughs; at worst, the feared double-dip recession may be materializing.”