Real estate prices sank from November 2009 to November 2010 in 16 of 20 metro areas tracked in a monthly Standard & Poor’s-Case-Shiller index, according to a report released today.
"(The) data points to weakness in home prices. With these numbers more analysts will be calling for a double dip in home prices," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Standard & Poor’s Index Committee, in a statement.
"Let’s take a moment to define a double dip as seeing the 10- and 20-City Composites set new post-peak lows. The series are now only 4.8 percent and 3.3 percent above their April 2009 lows, suggesting that a double dip could be confirmed before spring."
He added that there were new lows in nine metro areas tracked by the price indices, "with the only positive news concentrated in Southern California and Washington, D.C."
The home-price index rose 3.5 percent for the Washington, D.C., metro area, and rose 2.6 percent in San Diego, 2.1 percent in Los Angeles and 0.4 percent in San Francisco from November 2009 to November 2010, according to the report.
Meanwhile, the steepest index drop was in Atlanta (-7.9 percent), followed by Chicago (-7.6 percent), Detroit (-7.1 percent) and Portland (-7 percent). Overall, the 20-metro-area index dropped 1.6 percent.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, three markets experienced a rise in the price index from October to November: San Diego and Washington, D.C. (both up 0.5 percent), and Charlotte, N.C. (up 0.1 percent), while Las Vegas was flat.
The largest monthly drop was in Detroit (-2.2 percent), followed by Atlanta (-1.7 percent) and Chicago (-1.6 percent).
