The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the most closely followed measure of national home values, registered a decline of 0.7 percent for their 20-city composite index through November, a bigger drop than the 0.5 percent forecast by economists. David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, said price weakness continued despite low interest rates and better real GDP growth in the fourth quarter. Some analysts believe sellers are becoming more flexible on prices than they have been in the past, which would account for prices softening at the same time sales, sentiment, and the broader economy have shown improvement. More here and here.
