Home Prices Fall Record Amount in Quarter

U.S. home prices fell at an annualized 6.92% rate in the first quarter, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's purchase-only quarterly index. This is the largest decline in the index's 17-year history.

Housing prices have fallen 3.1% in the last year, according to the index.

"These substantial home price declines bring positive and negative news," said OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart in a release. "For homeowners and financial market observers, these declines spell further erosion in home equity levels and potentially more trouble for mortgage markets. To prospective home buyers who have been shut out of homeownership because of affordability constraints, these declines may be welcome news, as are continued low mortgage rates." ...