The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tumbled a record 16.6 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago. Prices are at levels not seen since the first quarter of 2004.

The monthly indices also showed record declines. The 20-city index fell by 17.4 percent in September compared with a year ago, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 18.6 percent, the biggest decline in its 21-year history.

Prices in the 20-city index have plummeted almost 22 percent since peaking in July 2006. The 10-city index has fallen more than 23 percent since its peak in June 2006.

No city in the Case-Shiller 20-city index saw annual price gains in September - for the sixth straight month. And 13 of the 20 metro areas posted record annual declines.

Regional decline
The sharpest drops came out of the West. Phoenix posted the largest year-over-year decline in September of nearly 32 percent, while Las Vegas dropped 31 percent and San Francisco, nearly 30 percent. Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego all recorded annual decreases above 25 percent.

Dallas and Charlotte faired the best in September in terms of relative year-over-year returns. While also in negative territory, their declines remained in single digits of -2.7 percent and -3.5 percent, respectively. However, both are at rates of decline lower than those reported in August's numbers. In addition, Charlotte also reported its largest monthly decline on record, down 1.3 percent. Monthly returns were negative across the board. Cleveland was the one market that showed any improvement in its year-over-year returns reporting -6.4 percent compared to the -6.6 percent reported for August.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Monday the median price for an existing home fell by more than 11.3 percent in October from a year ago to $183,000 - the largest year-over-year drop on records going back to 1968, and the lowest median sales price since March 2004. But sales were up 40.5 percent in the West compared with October 2007, without adjusting for seasonal factors, according to NAR.

Metro Area (1-year change)

· Atlanta, GA: -9.5%

· Boston, MA: -5.7%

 Source: Standard & Poor's and Fiserv

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