Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record

Consumer confidence numbers offer ray of hope
By Clay Dillow,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 29, 2008 11:01 AM CDT
Home Prices Fall Again; Rate of Decline Sets Record
Sales of existing homes fell more sharply than expected in June as the housing industry continued to be bruised by the worst slump in more than two decades.    (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Home prices continued to nosedive in May, a signal that the housing crisis may be worsening and a red flag for the credit markets and Wall Street, reports the New York Times. Every region covered by the S&P/Case-Schiller home-price index showed a drop compared to May 2007, with the rate of decline setting a record for the 21-year-old metric.

In both year-over-year and month-to-month misery, the Las Vegas and Miami markets continued their domination. Meanwhile, consumer confidence rebounded slightly in July, rising for the first time in 7 months and beating estimates. "The modest improvement in expectations, often a harbinger of economic times to come, bears careful watching over the next few month," one analyst told the Wall Street Journal. (More housing crisis stories.)

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