The Latest Housing Numbers

From Bloomberg:

“The housing recession will drive down property values by $1.2 trillion next year and slash tax revenue by more than $6.6 billion, according to a report issued today by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The 361 largest U.S. cities will experience a combined loss of $166 billion in economic growth, led by $10.4 billion in the New York-Northern New Jersey area, according to the study.
Most economists forecast the housing slump will persist and continue to be a drag on economic growth as tougher lending standards squeeze demand.”

From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

“U.S. home prices fell 4.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the sharpest drop since Standard & Poor began its nationwide housing index in 1987, the research group said Tuesday.

S&P also reported that prices fell 1.7 percent from the previous quarter, the largest consecutive quarterly decline in the index's history.”

From MarketWatch:

“Home prices fell in September in all 20 major cities covered by the Case-Shiller price index, even in cities that had been holding up before the August freeze in mortgage markets, Standard & Poor's reported.

‘There is no real positive news in today's data,’ said Robert Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC, and the co-developer of the index.”