http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aljcM42pGwyY&refer=us
By Kathleen M. Howley
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices declined in 21 U.S. cities in
January, led by Sacramento and Las Vegas, as banks sold foreclosed
homes at bargain prices.
The price per square foot in Sacramento dropped 28 percent to $166
from a year earlier, according to a re****t released today by New York-
based Radar Logic Inc., a real estate data company. Las Vegas fell 25
percent to $137 a square foot.
Rising foreclosures and tighter lending standards are deepening the
U.S. housing slump as it enters its third year. The median price of a
single-family existing home dropped 8.7 percent in February from a
year earlier, the most in four decades of record keeping, the Chicago-
based National Association of Realtors said in a March 24 re****t.
``Like homebuilders who feel pressure to get rid of inventory quickly,
many banks and lenders experience the same pressure when dealing with
homes from foreclosure,'' and decide to sell at below-market prices,
the re****t said. That leads to further declines in real estate values.
U.S. mortgage foreclosures rose to an all-time high at the end of
2007, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a March 6 re****t. New
foreclosures jumped to 0.83 percent of all home loans in the fourth
quarter from 0.54 percent a year earlier. Late payments rose to a 23-
year high, according to the Wa****ngton-based trade group's re****t.
New York Gains
San Diego was the third-worst U.S. market, with prices dropping 21
percent, and Los Angeles was fourth, with a 17 percent decline, Radar
Logic said.
Charlotte, North Carolina, saw a 3.9 percent gain in values, and New
York prices rose 2 percent, the only areas to have an increase in the
study of 25 U.S. cities.
The national vacancy rate, the share of empty houses for sale,
increased to 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter, matching 2007's first-
quarter rate that was the highest in records going back to 1956, the
U.S. Census Bureau re****ted Jan. 29.
Sales of new homes in the U.S. fell in February to an annual pace of
590,000, the lowest level in 13 years, the Commerce Department said in
a March 26 re****t.
Radar Logic's monthly housing re****t tracks the 28-day aggregated
value of a daily index the company compiles based on home sales. Using
a price-per-square-foot number reduces the influence of property size
when calculating price changes, the company said. The data is not
seasonally adjusted.
To contact the re****ter on this story: Kathleen M. Howley in Boston at
kmhowley@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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