Home prices decline at record pace

Home prices in the 20 largest U.S. cities fell 18% in October, a record year-over-year decline. The Case-Shiller home price index, released today by Standard & Poor's of New York, was down 2.2% from September. Fourteen of the 20 metropolitan areas posted declines in excess of 10% compared with the year-earlier period. Case-Shiller's 10-city index posted a record 19.1% decline from October 2007 and was off 3.6% from September. “The bear market continues; home prices are back to their March 2004 levels,” David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. The largest price decline for October was in Detroit, which posted a 4.5% decrease amid major troubles at the nation's three major automakers. San Francisco came in second with a 4.2% October decline. Since October 2007, Phoenix recorded the largest decline — 32.7%. Other cities that were badly battered during the 12 months were Las Vegas and San Francisco, which fell 31.7% and 31%, respectively. Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., posted the best year-over-year performance, posting declines of just 3% and 4.4%, respectively.