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Home Prices Decline Nationwide

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The Associated Press

Published: February 13, 2009

WASHINGTON - Home prices fell in nearly nine out of every 10 U.S. cities in the fourth quarter of last year as low-cost foreclosures flooded the market and the housing market's decline spread nationwide.

The National Association of Realtors said Thursday that median sales prices of existing homes declined in 134 out of 153 metro areas compared with the year-ago period. Sales fell in all but six states.

Nationwide, the median sales price was $180,100, down 12 percent from a year ago. But price declines of 30 percent or more were found in much of California, plus parts of Michigan, Florida, Arizona and Nevada. The biggest drop, of more than 50 percent, was in Fort Myers.

Florida's median sales price in the fourth quarter was $161,200, down 26 percent from $216,600 during the same quarter the previous year. The Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area saw prices plummet 25 percent to a median of $149,400. It was $198,400.

But the good news was the number of homes sold here. Sales were up 13 percent in Florida. In the Bay area, there were 5,579 sales in the fourth quarter, up 10 percent from the same quarter in 2007.

The states in which sales rose are places where buyers have been able to snap up foreclosed homes at a bargain.

Tribune reporter Shannon Behnken contributed to this report.

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