Home Prices Down 18.5% in 2008 

Existing single-family home prices in 20 major metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) across the country were down an average 18.5 percent in December 2008 from one year earlier, according to the 20-city composite index released Tuesday by Standard & Poor’s. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index saw another series of record declines, including a fourth-quarter decline of 18.2 percent from the previous year period, the largest quarterly figure “in the series’ 21-year history,” according to S&P analysts.