Home Prices Continue to Weaken Confirming Double Dip Fears

Dennis Norman

Dennis Norman

Today the S&P/Case-Shiller Index report for November was released and confirms concerns that I have discussed previously that the housing market is headed for a double dip in home prices.

The report revealed that home prices decreased in 19 or the 20 metro areas covered by the report from their October levels and only four of the metro’s showed a year-over-year price gain in November.Furthermore, nine metros – Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, Portland (OR), Seattle and Tampa – hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007.

“With these numbers more analysts will be calling for a double-dip in home prices. Let’s take a moment to define a double-dip as seeing the 10- and 20-City Composites set new post-peak lows. The series are
now only 4.8% and 3.3% above their April 2009 lows, suggesting that a double-dip could be confirmed before Spring. Certainly nine cities setting new lows, and with the only positive news concentrated in southern California and Washington DC, the data point to weakness in home prices,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “With an annual growth rate of +3.5% in November, Washington DC was the strongest market, but still well below the +7.7% annual rate of
growth seen in May 2010. The only city with a gain in November was San Diego, up a scant 0.1%. While San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco are still ahead from November 2009, their annual rates are
shrinking in recent months.

 

 

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply