In an not unexpected report, the Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices showd recorded declines in the prices of single family homes across the US.  This data is for the period ending November 2008, what will be hopefully will be viewed as the darkest period of the financial crisis we are now going through.

The 20-City Composite index shows an annual decline in prices of 18.2%.  From the prior month, the 20-City Composite index was down 2.2%.

Is there any good new here?  If you are buying or selling a home in the New York area the prices are far more stable, along with Dallas, Denver and Charlotte (the best performing cities).

New York area prices declined by 8.6% year over year and by 1.6% from October to November 2008.  New York’s index level is currently the highest at 190.04, indicating that home price are still 90% above their 2000 levels.  While we are still facing declining values in this region, home sales are starting to pick up as reported by the National Association of Realtors last week.

The report also importantly shows that while delinquencies increased, the rate of foreclosures started in both Prime and Sub-Prime loans declined in the third quarter from their second quarter levels.  Also as a measure of consumer confidence, the reported that the number of people with plans to buy a home in the next six months increased in the  third quarter from their second quarter levels.