Home prices fall at record pace
Index of 20 U.S. cities shows 18.2% annual drop, to the lowest levels since 2004.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- An index of home prices in 20 major metropolitan areas fell at a record annual pace in November, to levels not seen since 2004, according to a report released Tuesday.
The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a sampling of 20 cities from across the nation, fell a record 18.2% over the 12 months ended Nov. 30. That brought the index to its lowest point since February 2004. From its peak in mid-2006, the index has plunged a whopping 25.1%.
Eleven of the 20 cities showed record declines, and the 12-month price drop for 14 of the cities was a double-digit percentage.
"The freefall in residential real estate continued through November 2008," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor's, in a prepared statement. He said the 20-city index has fallen for every month since August 2006, a total of 28 consecutive months.
The decline was very broad, with prices down at least 1% in every region of the nation during the October-November period. Eight regions recorded record monthly declines, according to Blitzer.
As has become the norm, Southwest cities were the hardest hit, with Las Vegas prices dropping 3.9%, the nation's worst decline. Phoenix, at 3.4% was second. The Arizona metropolis recorded the worst 12-month decline, at 32.9%, followed by Las Vegas, at 31.6%.
New York and Cleveland prices fell by only 1% for the month, the smallest November drops. The best 12-month performer was Dallas, where prices slipped by 3.3%. Other 12-month, single-digit percentage drops were recorded by Denver, at 4.3%, Cleveland, at 5.2%, and Charlotte N.C., at 5.3%.
The Case-Shiller numbers just underscore how tough the market is for home sellers, according to Mike Larson, a real estate analyst with Weiss Research.
But there was some positive news in Monday's report from the National Association of Realtors, which showed a bump up in the number of existing homes sold during December.
"We're clearly seeing some of the impact of falling prices," said Larson. "But the problem is that many of those sales are made at the cheapest prices [often of bank repossessed properties], making it hard for normal homeowners to sell."
He does not foresee any swift improvement in housing markets - not as long as industries of all kinds keep announcing new layoffs, as several companies did Monday when more than 70,000 Americans learned they would lose their jobs.
"Home prices will likely decline, albeit at a slower pace, for the rest of 2009," said Larson. 
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