Home prices in six US metros touch new lows in Oct

Home prices in 20 metropolitan cities in the US continued to fall in October with prices in six cities reaching new lows.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices composite, a leading measure of U.S. home prices, fell 0.8 percent in October year-on-year, said Standard & Poor’s on Tuesday.

Markets had the expected the indices composite to decline by 0.1 percent in October.

Home prices in Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Portland, Ore., Seattle and Tampa hit their lowest levels since home prices started to fall in 2006 and 2007.

“The double-dip is almost here, as six cities set new lows for the period since the 2006 peaks. There is no good news in October’s report. Home prices across the country continue to fall,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.

However, prices in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington DC recorded gains on annual basis.

Existing home sales in the U.S. picked up again in November, after a surprising drop during October, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors.

Existing home sales rose 5.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 4.68 million in November, from 4.43 million in October but remained below the cyclical peak last year, which was the initial deadline for the first-time buyer tax credit.

“The trends we have seen over the past few months have not changed. The tax incentives are over and the national economy remained lackluster in October. Existing homes sales and housing starts have been reported for both October and November, and neither is giving any sense of optimism,” said Blitzer.

As of October 2010, average home prices across the United States are back to the levels where they were in mid 2003, the report said.