The nation’s housing market may be headed towards a “double dip” slump, according to a press release from Standard & Poors. The good news is home prices in Los Angeles seem to be faring better than many other major cities in the U.S.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed home prices fell in 20 major cities in October 2010 compared to September 2010. The overall decline for the 20-City Composite was 1.3 percent. It was 1.2 percent for the 10-City Composite. Los Angeles posted a -0.7 percent drop, the fourth smallest drop of the 20 cities.
To view the full press release visit: http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices/sp-case-shiller-home-price-indices/en/us/?indexId=spusa-cashpidff–p-us—-
“The double-dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since the 2006 peaks. There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s.
“The trends we have seen over the past few months have not changed,” he added. “The tax incentives are over and the national economy remained lackluster in October, the month covered by these data. Existing homes sales and housing starts have been reported for both October and November, and neither is giving any sense of optimism.”
Six markets, including Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland (OR), Seattle and Tampa, hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007. This means average home prices in those markets have fallen beyond the recent lows seen in most other markets in the spring of 2009.
The 10-City Composite posted a +0.2% annual growth rate in October, whereas the 20-City Composite was in negative territory, down 0.8% in October.
Only four major metro areas showed year-over-year home price gains in October, including Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington D.C. Los Angeles and Washington D.C. posted the largest gains, 3.3 percent and 3.7 percent respectively.