Housing prices fell 6.58% last year in Utah

Utah housing prices depreciated 6.58 percent last year, just above the national average, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

The agency's House Price Index, released Tuesday, showed home prices in the 50 states and the District of Columbia posted record declines in the fourth quarter of 2008. Nationwide, home prices fell 8.27 percent during 2008, the report said.

Among Utah metro areas, Logan was the only city with positive appreciation, ranking 32nd, with prices increasing 1.92 percent last year. St. George ranked 248 out of 292, with prices decreasing 13.28 percent in 2008, the report said.

Ogden-Clearfield ranked 141, with prices decreasing 1.54 percent. Salt Lake City came in at 171, as prices fell 3.37 percent during the year, and Provo-Orem ranked 191, as prices depreciated 4.54 percent.

Nationally, the seasonally adjusted purchase-only index was based on data from home sales. The report said the 3.4 percent drop from the third quarter of 2008 to the fourth quarter was the largest decline in the purchase-only index's 18-year history. Over the past year, seasonally adjusted prices fell 8.2 percent from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008.

"Price declines continued in the fourth quarter, although not as rapidly as some had expected," said agency director James B. Lockhart. "We are hopeful the housing initiatives announced last week by President Obama will begin to provide much-needed stability to the housing markets."

Obama's plan is a $75 billion Homeowner Stability Initiative, which would provide a set of incentives to mortgage lenders in an effort to convince them to help up to 4 million borrowers on the verge of foreclosure. The goal would be to cut monthly mortgage payments to sustainable levels, defined as no more than 31 percent of household income. Funding would come from the $700 billion financial-industry bailout passed by Congress last fall.

In addition, the economic-stimulus plan that Congress approved this month expanded an existing program for first-time homebuyers by raising a tax credit for first-time buyers who purchase a home to $8,000. No repayment of the credit is required.

The housing crisis has left many homeowners across the country on the verge of losing their houses as values plummeted, leaving some people owing more than their home is currently worth.

The states with the biggest year-over-year decreases were Nevada, where prices fell 28.24 percent, followed by California, with a 25.52 percent decrease, and Florida, where prices fell 23.96 percent. Arizona was the only other state in which home prices lost at least one-fifth of their value, falling 20.56 percent last year, the report said.