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A report by Altos Research indicates that in the 10-City Composite Price Index home prices dropped .4% in November, and dropped .8% in the past 3 months. The 10 cities that make up the list are: Boston, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Washington D.C, and Denver. Miami was the only city in the top 10 to show a positive figure.
Prices of homes also fell in 25 of 26 major markets. The average price in those markets dropped from $501,377 in October to $499,267 in November. San Diego and Salt Lake City fell the most, down 3.1% in San Diego and down 2.9% in Salt Lake City.
The inventory of homes to sell also fell in 22 out of 26 markets, with Boston leading the way with a 10% decrease, followed by San Francisco at 9.7% and San Jose at 6.9%. Michael Simonsen co-founder and chief executive officer of Altos Research, said “The contraction of inventory across most markets is in line with seasonal trends and will continue to moderate near-term price declines,” said Stephen Bedikian, partner and research director for Real IQ. “We’ve seen a sustained decrease of more than 6% in listed inventory during the past three-month period. With mortgage rates at historic lows and federal tax credits extended, demand should hold up.”
Home prices traditionally drop during this season, so there’s no panic on that front. However, all of the cities on the list have been taking a beating over the last year, and that’s more worrisome than anything. Unemployment seems to be taking the brunt of the blame, as the larger cities have shown higher unemployment numbers than most other cities. Though the foreclosure rate has dipped some, the worry is that if unemployment does go back up, and it’s predicted to go up by the end of next summer, that more foreclosures will be on the way.
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Mitch Mitchell is a consultant who writes and participates in many different fields, including real estate finance issues. 
I just read a report that said home prices in Atlanta have increased (slightly) over the past 4 months. A good thing considering this report.
Hopefully things will pick up soon. Winter months are usually low, but after 60 months of this, its getting old. Good news is that inventory also dropped in November. Thanks for the info.
Ko@San Jose Ca Foreclosures´s last blog ..Homeowner/Secured Loans Offer Many Advantages
The midwest region is poised to begin trending higher in the 2nd half of 2010. We’re forecasting moderate increases in property values (2-4% by the end of the year)