Prices of existing US single-family homes slumped in January, with 16 of 20 regions measured posting record annual declines, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index reported today.
The composite month-over-month index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.4 per cent to 180.65 from December, bringing the measure down 10.7 per cent from a year earlier and 12.5 per cent from its July 2006 peak.
"It shows that the housing correction is still under way," said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Lehman Brothers in New York. "The weakness is not contained to the bubble areas."
Home prices in Las Vegas and Miami fell the most of any region, at 19.3 per cent year-over-year, while Phoenix, San Diego and Los Angeles also suffered double-digit drops.
S&P said its composite month-over-month index of 10 metropolitan areas fell 2.3 per cent to 196.06 for an 11.4 per cent year-over-year drop.