Author: Housing Prices Falling in Many Cities

Average existing-home prices in the United States have not risen at all in the past six months, and many cities have begun to report price declines, according to John Talbott, the author of a McGraw-Hill book titled "The Coming Crash in the Housing Market."Mr. Talbott points to six-month figures that provide a different perspective from statistics cited by real estate industry groups, which show average resale prices up 7% for the 12 months ended March 31, McGraw-Hill said. "For many cities in the country, home real estate has already begun to trade off, with fully 60% of those that reported data showing a price decline," the publisher said. "This is a far more pessimistic story than that presented by industry news releases that are dependent on 12-month comparisons." McGraw-Hill said the differences between rises and declines in resale prices exceed 20 percentage points in some cities, such as Philadelphia; Newark, N.J.; Amarillo, Texas; and Toledo, Ohio. In Philadelphia, resale prices rose 25.7% for the 12 months ended March 31, but they declined 5.02% for the six months ended March 31, according to the publisher.