Home prices fall, foreclosures skyrocket

In new signs of continuing housing turmoil, home prices have posted record declines, while the number of home foreclosures have doubled during the past year. The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which tracks 20 of the largest housing markets, fell 12.7% in the 12-month period ending in February, marking the largest price decrease since the index began tracking home prices in 2000. Of those 20 metropolitan areas, 17 recorded their largest year-over-year declines. Ten of those 20 cities posted double-digit declines. Case-Shiller's 10-City Composite index was down 13.6%, compared with last year, marking the largest drop since the index was launched in 1987. The Las Vegas metro area posted a larger decrease than any other city, as home prices fell 22.8%. Home prices in Miami and Phoenix fell 21.7% and 20.8%, respectively, during that period. Southern California also took a large hit, as home prices in Los Angeles fell 19.4%, and prices in San Diego fell 19.2%. Of the 20 cities in the index, only Charlotte, N.C., recorded higher home prices, which increased 1.5% during the 12-month period. In more bad news, home foreclosure filings increased 112% during the first quarter of 2008, according to a quarterly report from RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The real estate information company reported that nearly 649,917 foreclosure filings were issued in the first quarter. So far this year, 156,463 families lost their homes to repossessions, representing one foreclosure for every 194 households. That marked a 23% increase from the fourth quarter. During the first quarter of the year, the number of foreclosures had increased in 46 states and in 90 of the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas. The states posting the highest foreclosure rates were Arizona, California and Nevada. The metro areas posting the highest foreclosure rates were Las Vegas, Detroit, Miami, Atlanta and Los Angeles.