Enough with the melting down, we beg. The U.S. government began tracking home prices 17 years ago and— brace for the shocker here— last quarter's were the lowest seen since then, dropping 3.1 percent in the first quarter and 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first of '08. Nice. (And by the way, the government index is calculated by tracking mortgage loans of $417,000 or less that are bought or backed by Fannie & Freddie.) California and Nevada tanked the hardest, with prices tanking over 8 percent in those states. Happy Friday, people. Oh, and P.S.— Existing home sale rates slipped for the eighth time in the nine months, too. What's left behind? The largest number of unsold units in more than two decades. Sales declined 1 percent in April, and the national median price dropped a whopping 8 percent, to $202,300. Snuggles.
· US Home Prices Lowest in 17 Years [Time]
· Unsold Homes Hit Record High [NPR]
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