Report is ‘disappointing,’ says chair of index preparation committee
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Home prices fell 0.2% in August, according to the Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s, in a report labelled “disappointing” by its compilers.
Prices fell in 15 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by Case-Shiller in August compared with July. Annualized price growth slowed to 1.7% from 3.2% in July.
Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, New York and Washington, D.C. were the only five cities that recorded small improvements in home prices over July.
David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, called the report “disappointing.”
“At this time, it does not seem that any of the markets are hanging on to the temporary momentum caused by the homebuyers’ tax credits,” Blitzer said in a comment that accompanied the report.
On a year-over-year basis, 12 of the 20 metropolitan areas posted negative growth rates. Seventeen of the regions showed a deceleration in growth rates.
Only Charlotte, Cleveland and Las Vegas saw improvement in year-over-year growth rates.
