Wall Street Journal on Real Estate Trends & Charlotte, NC
Home Prices Continue to Fall
Index Shows Drop
Of 4.4% in August
For 20 Metro Areas
By REX NUTTING
October 31, 2007; Page D3
Home prices continue to fall in most major U.S.
metropolitan areas, according to the latest update
of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes.
Prices of single-family homes in 20 major U.S.
metro areas in August were down an average of
4.4% from a year earlier, Standard & Poor's, a
division of McGraw-Hill Cos., reported
yesterday. Prices in those metro areas fell an
average of 0.8% from July to August, the fastest
monthly decline in the seven-year history of the
20-city index.
Prices as measured by this index have been down
from a year earlier for eight straight months.
"The fall in home prices is showing no real signs
of a slowdown or turnaround," said Robert J.
Shiller, co-creator of the index and chief
economist for MacroMarkets LLC.
The Case-Shiller indexes track multiple sales of
the same homes in an attempt to screen out price
differences caused by shifts in the size and type
of houses being sold. Some housing economists
consider these indexes the best gauge of national
and metro real-estate values.
The biggest declines are in the Rust Belt and in
the former boom towns near the coasts. In the
Tampa, Fla., area, prices were down about 10%
from a year earlier. Prices continued to rise,
though at a more modest rate, in parts of the
Pacific Northwest and the South.
Eight of the 20 metro areas recorded their
largest-ever year-over-year declines in August.
Prices were up in five metro areas, led by Seattle
with a 5.7% increase and Charlotte, N.C., with
5.6%.
Index Shows Drop
Of 4.4% in August
For 20 Metro Areas
By REX NUTTING
October 31, 2007; Page D3
Home prices continue to fall in most major U.S.
metropolitan areas, according to the latest update
of the S&P/Case-Shiller home price indexes.
Prices of single-family homes in 20 major U.S.
metro areas in August were down an average of
4.4% from a year earlier, Standard & Poor's, a
division of McGraw-Hill Cos., reported
yesterday. Prices in those metro areas fell an
average of 0.8% from July to August, the fastest
monthly decline in the seven-year history of the
20-city index.
Prices as measured by this index have been down
from a year earlier for eight straight months.
"The fall in home prices is showing no real signs
of a slowdown or turnaround," said Robert J.
Shiller, co-creator of the index and chief
economist for MacroMarkets LLC.
The Case-Shiller indexes track multiple sales of
the same homes in an attempt to screen out price
differences caused by shifts in the size and type
of houses being sold. Some housing economists
consider these indexes the best gauge of national
and metro real-estate values.
The biggest declines are in the Rust Belt and in
the former boom towns near the coasts. In the
Tampa, Fla., area, prices were down about 10%
from a year earlier. Prices continued to rise,
though at a more modest rate, in parts of the
Pacific Northwest and the South.
Eight of the 20 metro areas recorded their
largest-ever year-over-year declines in August.
Prices were up in five metro areas, led by Seattle
with a 5.7% increase and Charlotte, N.C., with
5.6%.
