by Calculated Risk on 5/29/2007 02:20:00 PM

From AP: Home price index shows first quarterly drop in 16 years

U.S. home prices fell 1.4 percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago, the first time since 1991 prices have shown a quarterly decline, according to a housing index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor's.

"We still don't see anything that looks like a clear bottom," S&P index committee chairman David Blitzer said. "We're still headed down."

The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index showed the 1.4 percent drop in the price for sales of existing single-family homes in metropolitan markets in nine U.S. census divisions.

For March, S&P's 10-city and 20-city composite indices, which measure a smaller number of cities than the national index, also fell, by 1.9 percent and 1.4 percent respectively over the last year.

When compared to February, the March sales figures show that 16 of 20 cities reported prices had dropped or remained flat, S&P said.

The most widely followed index (OFHEO House Price Index) will be released on Thursday.