U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th straight month

NEW YORK - U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest monthly drop since early 1991, a widely watched index showed on Wednesday.

The record 6.7 percent drop in the Standard Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index also marked the 23rd consecutive month prices either grew more slowly or declined.

``No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim,'' said Robert Shiller, who helped create the index, in a statement.

The previous record decline was 6.3 percent, recorded in April 1991. The S home price index tracks prices of existing single-family homes in 10 metropolitan areas compared to a year earlier.

A broader index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 6.1 percent. Among the 20 metropolitan areas used in the broader index, 11 posted record monthly declines and all 20 declined in October compared to September.

Miami posted the largest decline among those 20 markets. Home prices in the Miami metropolitan area fell 12.4 percent in October compared to the same month last year, surpassing Tampa, Fla. as the worst-performing city. Tampa posted a year-over-year loss of 11.8 percent.

Besides those two cities, Detroit, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Diego also posted double-digit year-over-year declines.

Atlanta and Dallas, which had previously posted price appreciation, fell in October. Prices fell 0.7 percent in Atlanta and 0.1 percent in Dallas compared to a year earlier.

Only three areas Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore. and Seattle posted year-over-year home price appreciation in October. Charlotte posted the largest gains at 4.3 percent.