Double Dip in housing market now likely, Reuters

.
1/25/11, "Price Drop Points to Likely Double Dip in Housing Market," Reuters, via CNBC

"U.S. single-family home prices fell for a fifth straight month in November and could plumb new lows soon, a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.5 percent in November from October on a seasonally adjusted basis, though it was not as sharp as the 0.8 percent fall expected by economists.

Prices have fallen 1.6 percent in the past year,

• sharper than the 1.4 percent predicted by economists polled by Reuters.

"Everything in this report is unfortunately still sagging and still pointing downward," David Blitzer, S&P 500 Index Committee chairman, said in a CNBC interview just after the report was released....

• Sixteen of the 20 cities showed annual price declines in November, while 19 of 20 cities showed monthly price drops.

The housing market has been struggling since home-buyer tax credits expired earlier this year. To take advantage of the tax credits, buyers had to sign purchase contracts by April 30.

"A double-dip could be confirmed before Spring," Blitzer added in separate remarks. Blitzer defined a double-dip as

• both the 10 and 20-city composite indices setting
  

• new post-peak lows.

He noted that the 10-city index is 4.8 percent above its April 2009 low while the 20-city index is just 3.3 percent higher than its low that same month.

Unadjusted for seasonal impact, the 20-city index fell 1.0 percent in November

• after a 1.3 percent decline in October."...

via Drudge Report