An end to the American housing recession, something that many observers regard as essential to ending the credit crunch, seemed little closer yesterday, with US real estate prices falling by the sharpest annual rate ever in July, though the monthly rate of decline is slowing.
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing index fell by a record 16.3 per cent in July from the level a year ago, the biggest drop since its inception in 2000. The index covers properties across the 20 largest urban centres in the US. Prices in these areas have plummeted almost 20 per cent since peaking in July 2006. A further fall will see a further rise in the losses faced by the banks on subprime property loans and other mortgages.
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