CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Home prices in the Charlotte area fell to their lowest level in March since the real estate bubble burst, part of a double dip in the national housing market fueled by weak sales, continued foreclosures and persistent economic woes, a report released Tuesday shows.
Prices in the metro area slid 2.4 percent from February and 6.8 percent from March 2010, according to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. It was the fourth straight month that prices in Charlotte hit a new low since their pre-recession peak.
Housing prices continued to weaken around the U.S., too, falling year over year in all but one of the 20 markets the index tracks, Washington, D.C. Prices there rose 4.3 percent from March 2010, the Case-Shiller report said. Seattle prices climbed 0.1 percent from February but were still down 7.5 percent over the year, the report found.
Meanwhile, a dozen metro areas, plus the national index and 20-city average, saw prices fall below their spring 2009 lows, signaling a long-predicted double dip in the housing market, said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor's.
"Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight," he said.
Prices rebounded in 2009 and 2010 largely because of the government's tax credits for first-time homebuyers, Blitzer said.
"Excluding the results of that policy, there has been no recovery or even stabilization in home prices during or after the recent recession," he said. "Further, while last year saw signs of an economic recovery, the most recent data do not point to renewed gains."
Experts say the housing market's troubles are due in part to continued foreclosures, lagging consumer confidence and inflated unemployment.
