(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-26 00:24

NEW YORK -- Home prices in many cities continued to plunge by record levels in January as sellers cut their asking bids and rising foreclosures took their toll, new data showed Tuesday.

A realty sign indicating a reduced price stands out a home for sale in south Denver on Sunday, March 23, 2008. A widely watched index of US home prices fell 11.4 percent in January, its steepest drop since data for the indicator was first collected in 1987. [Agencies]

While the spring selling season usually gives the market a bounce, some analysts say any notable improvement may not come until well into the summer. US home prices fell 10.7 percent in January, and the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities saw the steepest decline in the index's two-decade history.

Worst-hit were Las Vegas and Miami, both reporting 19.3 percent drops, as the regions are still paying the price for rampant speculation and overbuilding during the boom years. Those cities and 14 others, including Phoenix, San Diego, and Detroit, posted record lows.

"I wouldn't be looking for a pattern of improvement until April, May or June," said Brian Bethune, Global Insight's chief US economist.

Only Charlotte, N.C., squeaked by as a gainer in the Case-Shiller index, with a 1.8 percent rise in January compared to a year earlier.

"We are still selling here in Charlotte," said Dianne McKnight, a broker associate at Re/Max Executive Realty in the city. "If a property is priced right, it sells in a day and you have multiple offers. There are plenty of buyers out there kicking around."

But the overall downbeat figures come on the heels of data released Monday showing that the median price of existing homes being sold in February fell in the largest year-over-year drop since at least 1999.

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