Update - U.S. Home Prices Fall At Record Rate

The reverse Midas touch of the Republican/Chimperator "who needs regulation" mentality continues to unfold. Those being harmed are millions of homeowners, most of whom did not engage in hair brained loan transactions. MSNBC is reporting the the monthly decline in home prices for April, 2008, is the largest in more than 20 years. Yet the GOP and McCain can only think of less regulation, intermixing religion and the civil laws, and more tax breaks for the most affluent. Even in this area where prices are usually somewhat insulated due to the annual relocation of military personnel, prices have begun to slide. Meanwhile, everyone who makes their living off of the residential real estate industry - like 129 employees of a plywood plant in Chesapeake who will lose their jobs when the company closes its plant in August- and me included is undergoing extreme financial strains. Thanks a lot Chimpy! Here are some highlights:

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The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 cities fell by 15.3 percent in April versus a year ago, according to Tuesday’s report. . . . Meanwhile, a report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said U.S. home prices fell 4.6 percent in April from the same month last year, when the index peaked. That marked the biggest decline ever in the agency’s monthly index which dates back to January 1991.

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No surveyed city stayed above water, according to the Case-Shiller index. The last holdout, Charlotte, N.C., finally succumbed to the national housing downturn, with prices there slipping 0.1 percent from a year ago. Las Vegas and Miami both continue to post the largest declines, falling 26.8 percent and 26.7 percent, respectively.

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The housing slump, along with higher food and fuel prices and disruptions in the credit markets, has taken its toll on consumer sentiment. An industry group Tuesday said U.S. consumer confidence fell unexpectedly sharply in June to the fifth-lowest level ever. The Conference Board’s reading of consumers’ expectations also hit an all-time low.