U.S. Home Prices Show Quarterly 0.3 Percent Drop From 2006 to 2007

Washington, D.C.–U.S. home prices showed an annual decline for the first time in 16 years in 2007, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight in Washington, D.C.Home prices fell 0.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2006 to the last quarter of 2007, BusinessWeek reports. Prices dropped 1.3 percent from the third to the fourth quarter of 2007 according to the agency, which supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The East and West coasts had the most severe home price declines.The OFHEO index, compiled using Fannie Mae- or Freddie Mac-backed mortgage loans of $417,000 or less, showed an 8.9 percent decline in home prices in the fourth quarter–the steepest in the index’s 20-year history. The index excludes property bought with many of the riskier home loans that affected the market in 2007.