Housing Prices Fell Dramatically in October

Housing prices fell dramatically in October according to the S & Ps Case Shiller Housing Price Index. The New York Times reports:

Home values in 20 large metropolitan areas across the country dropped at a record pace in October as the fallout from the financial collapse reverberated through the housing market, according to data released Tuesday.

The price of single-family homes fell 18 percent in October from a year earlier, according to the closely watched Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Housing Index. All 20 cities reported annual price declines in October; prices in 14 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed fell at a record rate as the financial crisis reached a critical point.

The fall in prices were very dramatic in most of the 20 cities that compose the 20 City Housing Price Index. The yearly declines were most dramatic in: "Prices in Las Vegas and Phoenix, where developers built subdivisions stretching into the desert, fell by nearly a third in October from 2008. Home prices fell 31 percent in San Francisco and 29 percent in Miami. Prices in New York declined 7.5 percent in October over the same month a year ago.

Locally, in the Washington, DC area prices were down 18.7% from a year ago; and 2.3% during the month of October.

Washington, DC: Housing Boom & Bust. Source (NYTimes Graph).

Of course, during the past year, the percentage price declines have not been uniform across the Washington, DC metro area. Overall, in the Washington, DC metro area we are back to May 2004 prices (nominally). Inflation adjusted, prices are back even further to early 2003.