Home prices fell 18.7% in March from a year ago, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city house price index, which has declined 32.2% since the second quarter of 2006. Despite the plunge, the rate of decline in prices appears to have stabilized in the first quarter at a record 19.1%. The annual decline in January was 19% and 18.6% in February. Freddie Mac economists are forecasting that house price declines will slow in the coming quarters. They expect the S&P Chase-Shiller National HPI will decline by 14% in the second quarter and by 10% in third quarter. Overall, house prices will decline by 12.8% in 2009 and by another 3% in 2010, according to Freddie.
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