Bad news or very bad news?
U.S. home prices fell 10.7 percent in January, and the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index of 20 cities saw the steepest decline in the index’s two-decade history.
Worst-hit were Las Vegas and Miami, both reporting 19.3 % drops, as the regions are still paying the price for rampant speculation and overbuilding during the boom years. Those cities and 14 others, including Phoenix, San Diego, and Detroit, posted record lows.
The trade group said sales rose 2.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million units — the biggest increase in a year. But the median existing sales price in February fell to $195,900, the largest year-over-year drop on records that go back to 1999.