Home prices fall in some U.S. cities, but not here

Home prices in the first quarter fell in several U.S. cities for the first time in at least 15 years, more proof that the Federal Reserve is winning its campaign to cool off the housing market, a trade group report says.

Boston and Cincinnati were among the 16 areas that saw price declines, the National Association of Realtors says in its report on sales of existing single-family homes. The report excludes sales of brand-new homes.

But 60 metropolitan areas, including Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, saw double-digit appreciation. The median price of an existing single-family home in the Seattle area jumped 16.4 percent, to $338,600, from the first quarter of 2005.

The median price of a single-family home in Boston fell 1.5 percent to $390,400, breaking a streak that started in 1991, the National Association of Realtors said Monday. In Cincinnati, where prices had only risen since the group began tracking the market in 1979, the decline was 1.4 percent, to $137,000.

Higher mortgage rates have reduced demand after five consecutive years of record home sales. The Fed raised its benchmark rate to a five-year high of 5 percent May 10, the 16th increase since June 2004, in part to eliminate what former Chairman Alan Greenspan called "froth" in the real-estate market.

"Pressure is coming off of home prices," David Lereah, the group's chief economist, said in the report.

Median prices rose in 143 cities and were unchanged in two, the group said.

Home prices typically are compared to the same period a year earlier because the mix of homes sold and the level of demand changes with the seasons. Median price means half the homes sold for more, and half sold for less.

Nationally, the median price for an existing single-family home rose 10 percent to $217,900 from $197,600 in the year-earlier quarter, the association's report says. It was the smallest increase in a year.

The biggest first-quarter price gain was in Phoenix and Mesa, Ariz., where the median jumped 38 percent.

The biggest decline was in Danville, Ill., which fell 12 percent.

In a separate report Monday, the National Association of Home Builders said confidence among U.S. homebuilders fell to an 11-year low this month. A measure of expectations for future sales fell from 59 to 54, the lowest since November 2001.