March 31 (Bloomberg) -- Home prices in 20 U.S. cities fell 19 percent in January from a year earlier, the fastest drop on record, as demand plummeted and foreclosures rose.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index’s decrease was more than forecast and compares with an 18.6 percent decrease in December. The gauge has fallen every month since January 2007, and year- over-year records began in 2001.
I have no idea why pumping massive amounts of money into a banking sector which proved that it was horribly bad at its supposed role - allocating capital efficiently - is a good idea. Who are they supposed to lend to?
There's still a big wave of ARM resets* coming, and the CRE implosion has just begun.
*Regarding ARM resets, some suggest this won't be a problem because interests rates are so low. But the issue is option ARMS ("pick a payment!") loans, where people have been making interest-only or even neg-am payments on the loans.