Florida Home Buyers and Investors Blog

Home prices continue their slide in Miami, but the drop wasn’t as steep in April, compared to March.

Miami reported a 2 percent decline, according to the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Index released on Tuesday. In March, the drop was 3.6 percent.

“The pace of decline in residential real estate slowed in April,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the S&P’s Index Committee, said in a news release.

He noted that every metro area in the 20-city index, except Charlotte, N.C., recorded an improvement. And, while one month’s data doesn’t necessarily mean a turnaround has begun, Blitzer said, “some stabilization may be appearing in some regions.”

The three worst performing areas with year-over-year declines were Phoenix (35.3 percent), Las Vegas (32.2 percent) and San Francisco (28 percent). But, Miami wasn’t far behind with a 27.3 percent decline year-over-year.

Nationwide, prices in 20 major metropolitan areas fell 18.1 percent, year-over-year in April.

Patrick Newport, an economist with HIS Global Insight, noted that prices will fall further, since foreclosures are still rising.

“Indeed, all evidence indicates that the foreclosure problem is getting worse. Not only were the foreclosure and delinquency rates (as measured by the Mortgage Bankers Association) at an all-time high in the first quarter, the increment to these rates also hit a record high,” he said in a news release.

There are a few bright spots, as Denver, Dallas and Boston continue to fare the best on the index down year over year just 4.9 percent, 5 percent and 7.7 percent respectively.

-South Florida Business Journal