First American LoanPerformance* released its home price index numbers for August 2007 today (I’d blogged about the launch of the indices back in September) — and the results show continued stress in key markets across the United States. “This latest home price index confirms that property values in key mortgage markets like California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona continue to exhibit on-going declines,” said Damien Weldon, vice president, collateral and prepayment analytics for First American LoanPerformance. “Within these States, cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix are leading the market downwards. At the ZIP code level, the picture is often much bleaker because there are individual ZIP codes that are down nearly 20 percent compared to last year,” added Weldon. *Note to any First American branding experts out there reading this blog: LoanPerformance was much easier. Acquiring the company and slapping the parent’s brand name on it just burns whatever brand equity had been earned, and turns it into something resembling the annoying naming conventions of a law firm.
