Case-Shiller Index: Existing Home Prices Fall 0.2%

According to the Case-Shiller Index, existing home prices fell in November by 0.2%. This was the first decline in the ten-city index in seven months and the second consecutive decline for the twenty-city index following five months of increases. Only six of the twenty metro areas surveyed saw price appreciation over the month and tended to be concentrated in western metro areas. From a year prior, the ten and twenty city indices were 4.5% and 5.3% lower, respectively. This however, is much less than year-over-year declines of close to 19% over the last winter. From its peak in 2006, home prices have fallen 29.2%, according to the broader index. This is modestly off the low of a 32.6% decline seen last April.