US house prices drop to 2002 levels
Wednesday, 1 June 2011 2:07 PM
US house prices dropped to a new recession low in the first three months of the year, falling to levels not seen for nine years, according to figures released today.
The National Home Price Index recorded a year-on-year decline in US house-prices of 5.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2011.
The speed of the decline in the US property market also accelerated in the first three months of the year, decreasing by an average of 4.2 per cent from the previous quarter, which itself had fallen by 3.6 per cent from values posted in the preceding three months.
Property prices in the majority of leading US markets posted a year-on-year decline in the first quarter, with Minneapolis the hardest hit as property values in the city dropped by an average of 3.7 in a year.
The Washington area was the sole market where property increased measurably in value as prices rose by an average of 1.1 per cent year-on-year, according to Standard & Poor’s Home Price Indices for March.
Prices in Seattle also increased, but by just 0.1 per cent year-on-year.
Eleven US cities have now posted at least eight consecutive months of declining month-on-month values in their property markets.
“The rebound in prices seen in 2009 and 2010 was largely due to the first-time home buyers’ tax credit,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices.
“Excluding the results of that policy, there has been no recovery or even stabilisation in home prices during or after the recent recession.
“Further, while last year saw signs of an economic recovery, the most recent data do not point to renewed gains.”
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