November 7th, 2008 3:05 PM by Jeremy Schachter - Mortgage Advisor NMLS 148435
by Catherine Reagor - Oct. 28, 2008 10:52 AMThe Arizona Republic
Metropolitan Phoenix now leads the nation for home price declines, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index released this morning. The Valley’s existing home price fell 30.7 percent between August 2007 and August 2008.
The Valley just beat out Las Vegas for the top spot for the biggest drop in home prices. The Nevada city’s resale home price has fallen 30.6 percent based on the index.
Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego were all right behind with home price declines of more than 25 percent.
Most of the country’s big metro areas posted home price declines. An index of the 20 largest U.S. cities fell almost 17 percent.
“The downturn in residential real estate prices continued, with very few bright spots in the data,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s.
Cleveland and Boston were the only two major cities, tracked by the index, to post gains in home prices.
Metro Phoenix trailed Las Vegas and Miami for home price declines until August. The index lags about two months so researchers can gather all the necessary home data.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index uses resale data to track home prices. It is considered one of the most accurate housing indexes in the country.