U.S. home prices continued to fall in November, with the Los Angeles area posting among the sharpest declines, according to a prominent index released Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of home prices in 20 metropolitan areas was down 18% in November from the same month a year earlier. Home prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties were down 27% compared with November 2007.

Every one of the 20 regions reported a price decline. Phoenix’s drop of 33% was the steepest, followed by Las Vegas, which posted a 32% decline from a year earlier.

Close behind in their November price drops were San Francisco (31%), Miami (29%) and San Diego (26%).


The smallest year-over-year declines were in Dallas (3%) and Denver (4%).

The Case-Shiller index compares the latest sales of detached houses with previous sales, and accounts for factors such as remodeling that might affect a house’s sale price over time.

From those data, an index score is created to show price changes. An index score of 100 reflects January 2000 prices. The November index score for Los Angeles was 175.85.

In the Los Angeles area, the index showed a greater price decline among lower-priced homes. The index divides homes into three price tiers. Prices of homes in the least-expensive tier declined 46% in November compared with a year earlier. The November annual decline for mid-priced homes was 37%, while the highest-priced tier fell 26%.


The California Assn. of Realtors also reported home-price figures Tuesday. The real estate industry group said the median sales price of a resold single-family home in California fell 42% in December compared with the same month last year.

The December median sales price of $281,100 was down from $480,820 in December 2007. Those low prices attracted bargain hunters, who drove December sales up 85% from a year earlier.

According to the Realtors group, the 10 cities in California with the highest median detached-home prices last month were Danville, $1,029,000; Santa Barbara, $952,500; Santa Monica, $825,000; San Ramon, $711,500; Redondo Beach, $682,500; San Clemente, $675,000; San Francisco, $625,500; Arcadia, $625,000; San Mateo, $618,500; and Carlsbad, $615,000.

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peter.hong@latimes.com