Existing Home Prices Fall for First Time in 40 Years

For the first time in at least 40 years, the median price for an existing single-family home declined across the country in 2007, according to a report by the National Association of Realtors. The median home price fell 1.4 percent in 2007 to $218,900, from $221,900 in 2006. NAR said the national median existing-home price in December alone was down 6 percent, year over year.

"It's the first annual drop since we started collecting data in 1968," association spokesman Walter Molony said. "Based on anecdotal information, academics agree the previous [such] decline was in the Great Depression."

"The average price is now back to the level of March 2005, which implies that many people who bought homes even two years ago have experienced no appreciation in their homes' worth," David Oser, chief economist for ShoreBank in Chicago, said. "Those who bought more recently are likely to live in homes that are worth less than they paid for them."

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