Existing home prices for 20 cities fell 19 percent in January compared with a year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index released today.

Fourteen of the the 20 localities showed declines greater than 10 percent in home prices. Nine of them declined by more than 20 percent.

The monthly data for the 10-City and 20-City Composite has shown 30 consecutive months of negative returns, said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index committee at Standard & Poor’s.

January 2009 average home prices are comparable to those last seen in late 2003.

Cleveland, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, while continuing to suffer home price declines, had year-over-year declines that were not as great as in previous months.

The three worst performing cities were:

  • Phoenix – home prices fell 35 percent since Jan. 2008
  • Las Vegas – down 32.5 percent
  • San Francisco – down 32.4 percent

March 31, 2009