Home Prices Keep Falling

Prices of single-family homes declined a greater than expected 0.6% in September, reversing the improving trend of the preceding three months, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.

The expectation was for the index to decline 0.1% from the August level. The Augst reading was revised downwards to a 0.3% decline from the original unchanged reading. The index had declined 0.1% each in the three months preceding August. The annual rate of decline improved to 3.6% from August's 3.8% and July's 4.1%, but fell short of the expected 3% decline.

The index tracks changes in the values of single-family homes in major metropolitan regions and is based home resales on a three-month moving average basis. Given the relatively delayed nature of the release and the smoothening effect of the three-month averaging process, the S&P/Case-Shiller release lacks some of the 'newsy' punch of the other economic reports. But it nevertheless provides a comprehensive window into trends in single-family home prices.

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