Home Prices Fell 15.3% in April

The Case-Shiller home-price index dropped 15.3% from a year earlier, a 1.4% decline from March.  All of the 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year decrease in prices, with Charlotte, North Carolina posting a decline for the first time.  However, prices in eight cities actually rose from the prior month, perhaps indicating a bottoming trend in a few markets such as Cleveland.  Then again, can prices go any lower in Cleveland?  Cleveland is a market where you can buy a house for $1.  If you don't believe me, here's the realtor.com   link that shows 477 properties for sale for under $10,000 in Cleveland.  Other markets where prices rose slightly from the prior month were Boston, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, Portland and Seattle.  Markets where prices rose the most during the bubble continue to show precipitous declines.  These markets include Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, San Francisco and Phoenix.  For more specific details, you can download an excel spreadsheet here.  If you wonder about the future direction of home prices, you can check out this interactive map on MSNBC.com which shows how foreclosures are spreading across the country.