Petah Digby

I found this article this morning and I wanted to share it
with you…

Home prices in the U.S. continue to tumble. In recent
months, that path of descent has become more precipitous as
foreclosures claim a larger share of the market.

Residential home prices slipped 2.5 percent during the first
quarter of this year when compared to the previous quarter,
according to a national index from the Federal Housing
Finance Agency (FHFA), which is calculated using sales price
information from mortgages acquired by Fannie Mae and
Freddie Mac.

The GSE’s purchase-only index shows that prices fell 5.5
percent between the first quarter of 2010 and the first
quarter of 2011.

It’s the largest annual drop recorded since the second
quarter of 2009, and the largest quarter-over-quarter
decline seen since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Economists were projecting the declines to be much smaller.
Those at the research firm Capital Economics say it signals
that the housing downturn “has gone from bad to worse.”

“Prices in the first quarter fell at a faster rate than at
any time since the height of the financial crisis in late
2008,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist for the firm.
“This time prices are not being driven down by a plunge in
confidence and a sudden contraction in credit. Instead, they
are being depressed by a chronic lack of demand and the
effects of many foreclosed sales.”

Dales added, “With the foreclosure pipeline still full,
prices will fall throughout this year, and perhaps next year
too.”