Case-Shiller Indexes Down for Fifth Straight Month

The ""Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes"":http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff--p-us fell for the fifth straight month in January with the 10- and 20-city composites each dropping 0.8 percent from December, Standard & Poor’s, which compiles the indices, reported Tuesday morning. The 10-city index slid to its lowest level since May 2003 and the 20-city index dropped to its lowest level since December 2002.

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Prices fell in 16 of the 19 cities surveyed, improving month-over-month in only Miami, Phoenix, and Washington D.C.

Charlotte, North Carolina was not included in this month’s local reports due to data collection issues, S&P said.

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Since January 2011, the 10-city index fell 3.9 percent and the 20-city index has fallen 3.8 percent. Prices fell in 16 of the 19 cities on a year-over-year comparison, increasing in Denver, Detroit, and Phoenix.

The improvement in the price index for Phoenix was the fourth consecutive monthly gain and the seventh in the last 10 months. Prices have also increased in Washington D.C. for seven of the last 10 months. The monthly price increase in Miami was the second in a row.

At the other end of the scale, prices have fallen month-over-month in Las Vegas for seven straight months and for 15 of the last 16 months. Prices have also dropped for six straight months in Atlanta, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle.

The steepest month-over-month decline was 2.5 percent in San Francisco, followed by 2.1 percent in Atlanta and Portland, 2 percent in Cleveland and 1.9 percent in Chicago.

The steepest year-over-year price decline was in Atlanta, where prices are off 14.8 percent since January 2011, followed by Las Vegas, down 9 percent, Chicago 6.6 percent, and San Francisco 5.9 percent.

Since peaking in June 2006, the 10-city index is down 49.1 percent and the 20-city index which peaked one month later is off 48.6 percent.