The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released Tuesday fell 1.3 percent in October from September. The index found home prices in the Boston area dropped 0.2 percent from a year earlier, and 1.2 percent in October from the previous month.
All cities recorded monthly price declines. The last time that happened was in Feb. 2009.
Atlanta recorded the largest decline. Prices there fell 2.9 percent from a month earlier. Home prices in Washington dropped 0.2 percent in October, the second monthly decline after five straight increases.
Home prices in Dallas, Portland, Ore., Charlotte, N.C., Tampa, Fla. and Denver have fallen for four straight months.
The 20-city index has risen 4.4 percent from its April 2009 bottom. But it remains 29.6 percent below its July 2006 peak.
This year is on pace to finish as the worst for home sales in more than a decade. High unemployment and tight credit have kept people from buying homes, despite some of the lowest mortgage rates in decades.
Government tax credits gave the ailing industry a boost this spring. But they expired in April, and in recent months, home prices have begun to dip again.
Millions of foreclosures are forcing home prices down and more are expected in the coming year. Many people are holding off on making purchases because they fear the market hasn’t bottomed out, analysts say.
And mortgage rates are rising again. In the last month, rates on fixed mortgages have surged more than a half-point to near 5 percent.
Most experts expect the declines to continue through mid-year with prices on average to lose another 5 percent to 10 percent. The worst price drops will come from cities with a struggling economy and the highest foreclosure rates, while those with better job growth will fare better.
Home prices have declined in 18 of the 20 cities in the past year.
"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. "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, the month covered by these data. Existing homes sales and housing starts have been reported for both October and November, and neither is giving any sense of optimism."
