Home Prices Down 5 Percent in Most Recent Quarter

By:: Peter King | May 07, 2010

U.S. home prices fell 5 percent in the last quarter reported, as foreclosures posted a slight increase in their share of the home sales market, according to new figures from real estate data company Clear Capital.

The 5 percent decline represents an increase over last month’s figures, which showed a 3.9 percent decline for the previously reported quarter. Clear Capital uses a “rolling” quarterly method where each quarter is defined as the three months immediately prior; the current quarter reported is February-April; the quarter reported last month as January-March.

On a positive note, Clear Channel said the pace of decline in housing prices slowed in the current quarter, with the current figures representing a 1.1 increase in the rate of decline, compared to a 3.9 percent drop in last month’s quarterly data.

Foreclosures increased their share of total home sales in the most recent rolling quarter, rising to 29.6 percent of all sales, an increase of less than 1 percent from last month’s data.

On an annual basis, prices remained stable, reflecting a 5.1 percent increase over the same period last year, the same as reported last month.

All four regions in the U.S. posted declines in the current report, led by the Midwest, where prices were down 9.4 percent compared to the previous quarter. The Northeast posted a 4.4 percent decline, followed by the South at 4.2 percent. Somewhat surprisingly, the West, which has been hardest-hit by the foreclosure crisis, posted a decline of only 1.2 percent.

Although prices are declining and the share of foreclosed homes on the market is increasing, Clear Capital said both trends are slowing, suggesting the recent deterioration of the housing market may be only temporary, and a rebound could be seen in coming months.

In terms of local housing markets, the best-performing metropolitan areas posted only small quarterly price increases in the current report, while the worst-performing showed major declines. Memphis, Tenn.; posted the nation’s largest quarterly decline at 15.5 percent, while Honolulu, Hawaii was the nation’s biggest gainer at 3.3 percent. The nation’s 15 worst-performing metropolitan areas showed an average decline of 11.1 percent over the most recent rolling quarter, though nearly all markets continued to show gains compared to the same period last year.

For more information, visit the Clear Capital News Room at www.clearcapital.com.

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