The prices paid for single-family homes in the U.S. dropped for the eighth month in a row and moved within a hair of matching the trough values posted two years ago, according to Reuters. On Tuesday, the Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas showed that home prices were down by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February from the previous month, which was only slightly better than the 0.3% decline economists had expected. The drop moved the index to 139.27, which is just barely above the reading of the 139.26 April 2009 trough.
The index posted a 3.3% decrease in home values year-over-year, which was in line with economists’ expectations and David Blitzer, the S&P index committee chairman, said, “There is very little, if any, good news about housing.” Blitzer continued to say, “Prices continue to weaken, trends in sales and construction are disappointing,” and added, “Recent data on existing-home sales, housing starts, foreclosure activity, and employment confirm that were are still in a slow recovery.”