Commonly cited measures of U.S. home prices are overstating the degree to which the vast majority of Americans' home values have declined in the last year, producers of two of the most widely tracked indexes acknowledged this week. "Just like saying the average nationwide temperature today is 57 degrees doesn't tell you anything, the same is true for real estate prices. The only way to tell what your own home is really worth is to look at local-market conditions, do Internet research and utilize professionals (such as licensed appraisers) to help determine the value of your home."

-- Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors^{®, "Home-price Data has its Flaws," by Chris Plummer, MarketWatch, May 1, 2008.}