Grim numbers are out Tuesday from the Case-Shiller Housing Index.
Home prices in Portland dropped 1.6 percent from October to November.
David Blitzer is the chair of the index committee at Standards and Poor's.
He calls the latest housing numbers "disappointing." Home prices are down in 19 of the 20 cities that the index tracks.
In the city of Portland, he says, prices dropped 4-.8 percent in the year ending last November.
Blitzer explained, "Compared to the rest of the country there are some that are better, there are some that are worse. From the peak price Portland's down almost 29 percent. You know that's not as good as some place like Dallas, which only fell about 11 or 12 percent. It's a whole lot better than places like Las Vegas, down 61 percent from its peak."
Blitzer says a number of factors are dragging on the market: some people, who've been badly stung by real estate, are giving up and simply renting; others are finding it difficult to get a mortgage, now that banks have tightened their lending practices; and finally, with many more foreclosures expected, some buyers are waiting in the hope prices continue dropping.
On the Web
PDF: Case-Shiller Nov. 2011 Report
The S&P Case-Shiller Indices are calculated monthly using a three-month moving average and published with a two-month lag.
Timeline Of Portland Home Prices (Case-Shiller Index Data)
