Properties22

American house prices fell at their fastest rate on record in May, declining 15.8 per cent compared with the same month the year before.

According to the S&P/ Case-Shiller index of residential property values – widely seen as the most authoritative measure of US house prices – there has not been an overall home price increase in any month since August 2006.

The main index, which measures house prices in 20 cities across the US, recorded a 15.8 per cent drop, while the other, narrower Case-Shiller index which monitors 10 cities, showed a 16.9 per cent decline in property prices. That fall is the sharpest since the 10-city index was first calculated 21 years ago.

US home values have fallen 18.4 per cent since the 20-city index’s peak in July 2006.

Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and Washington, DC all showed record declines in May. The value of housing in Detroit is now lower than it was in 2000.

However, some Wall Street economists seized on part of the data which showed smaller annual declines in seven cities – Tampa, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Dallas and Atlanta.

Ian Shepherdson, chief US economist at High Frequency Economics, said: “We can’t be sure this data is reliable over such short runs but they do seem to suggest the rate of decline of existing home prices is slowing. To be sure, prices are still falling very rapidly, and there is no prospect of any rebound this year and probably next, but a slower rate of fall is welcome nonetheless.”
TimesOnline