Housing Prices Continue to Fall

Median housing prices continued to drop rapidly in February, falling 3.0 percent, according to the monthly IAS360 House Price Index released today by Integrated Asset Services.

Though some recent indicators have suggested the housing market may be bottoming out, the IAS360 survey has not shared that optimism. February's decline came on top of a 3.5 percent drop in January, the worst the index has reported since the housing market peaked in November 2006.

U.S. house prices have now fallen 14.4 percent on a year-over-year basis and 17.9 percent since the height of the real estate bubble in 2006. Since the economic collapse began in September 2008, the IAS360 has shown a drop of 10.9 percent nationally.

"We have seen no indication of a positive turn in the housing markets we track," said Dave McCarthy, President and CEO of Integrated Asset Services. "If anything the rate of decline in some areas has increased.

Sales reported up

The news comes nearly two weeks after the National Association of Realtors® reported that home sales unexpectedly rose 2.1 percent in February, following a 7.7 percent decline the month before.

Mortgage applications also rose steadily during March, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Those results are not inherently at odds with the IAS360 results; falling housing prices can trigger rising sales as bargains attract buyers.

Among the four U.S. Census region levels, the Northeast reported a 12.8 percent decline across the last 5 months and 4.6 percent drop in February. Similarly, the South dropped 12.8 percent and 3 percent for the same respective periods. The West, for its part, was down 10.2 percent and 2.5% percent. The Midwest is the only region not to post double-digit declines since September, down 8.9 percent over the past five months and 2.3 percent in February.

A few counties gain

Still, the survey did contain a few bright spots: the counties of Will, Ill.; Douglas, Colo.; and Putnam, N.Y.; all posted gains of 3.1 -5.1 percent in median housing prices over the last five months since the economic crisis began.

On the other hand, the hardest-hit counties during that the same period were Imperial, Calif. and Pasco, Fla., which were socked by declines of 40.9 percent and 38.3 percent, respectively.

The IAS360 House Price Index is a comprehensive housing index tracking monthly change in the median sales price of detached single-family residences across the U.S. The index, based on all arms-length transactions, tracks data of 15,000 "neighborhoods," which is rolled-up to report on the changes in 360 counties, nine census divisions, four regions, and the nation overall.