Home prices continue race to bottom

The residential real estate market continued to struggle in August with home prices tumbling at a record pace during the month, according to the Standard &Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index that was released today. The index, which measures home prices in the United States’ 20 largest cities, declined a record 16.6% in August, compared with August 2007. It was the 20th straight month with a year-over-year decline. The survey's narrower 10-city composite index declined a record 17.7% year-over-year, also falling for the 20th straight month. “The downturn in residential real estate prices continued, with very few bright spots in the data,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at New York-based Standard & Poor’s, said in a statement. Standard & Poor’s, a unit of New York-based McGraw-Hill Cos., sponsors the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which is owned by Brookfield, Wis.-based Fiserv Inc. Las Vegas and Phoenix had the weakest markets in August with both cities reporting 31% declines in home values, followed by Miami (-28%), Los Angeles (-27%), San Francisco (-27%) and San Diego (-26%). The only two metropolitan areas to post an increase in property values during August were Cleveland (1.1%) and Boston (0.1%).