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Home Prices, Consumer Confidence Nosedive

Housing trouble worsens as recession worries mount

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Mar 25, 2008 9:58 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Home prices plummeted again in January, falling a record 10.7% compared to January 2007, according to the bellwether S&P Case/Shiller Hope Price composite. The March consumer confidence index, also out today, plunged to a 5-year low in yet another indication of recession, Bloomberg reports. The Conference Board measures consumer confidence as well as expectations for the next 6 months; that metric fell to a level not seen since the Nixon administration.

Home prices in Las Vegas and Miami fell furthest, posting 19.3% declines, Bloomberg reports. “Prices have reached what might be called a fair value,” one economist said of the 13th straight monthly decline, but they’ll have to go “substantially past that” to drive demand that would theoretically lead to recovery. Of the consumer mood, an economist said, "It's a discouraging environment. We are almost certainly in a recession."

A for sale sign noting a reduced price is shown in front of a house in Albany, N.Y., in this Nov. 27, 2007 file photo.
A for sale sign noting a reduced price is shown in front of a house in Albany, N.Y., in this Nov. 27, 2007 file photo.   (AP Photo/Mike Groll, file)
A home in a south Seattle neighborhood, first put on the market in September of 2007 for $349,950 before dropping three times to it's current asking price of $309,950, is seen Jan. 23, 2008.
A home in a south Seattle neighborhood, first put on the market in September of 2007 for $349,950 before dropping three times to it's current asking price of $309,950, is seen Jan. 23, 2008.   (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
A property in Los Angeles is offered for sale at reduced price in this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 file photo.
A property in Los Angeles is offered for sale at reduced price in this Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 file photo.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, file)
A price reduction sign tops the placard for an existing home on the market in south Denver on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.
A price reduction sign tops the placard for an existing home on the market in south Denver on Sunday, Feb. 17, 2008.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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home sales • consumer confidence • housing • recession • home prices • Case Shiller price index • housing crisis

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