Moody’s reports largest one-month price decline

NEW YORK - The Moody’s/REAL National All Property Type Aggregate Index from Real Estate Analytics LLC measures 135.31 for April 2009, a decrease of 8.6% from the previous month and the single largest one-month decline.

The index, which has captured price data through the end of April, is now 25.3% lower than it was a year ago and 29.5% below the peak measured in October 2007. The index also indicated a 27.4% drop in prices over the past two years.

“The largest negative monthly return likely reflects the fact that deals closed were negotiated at the end of 2008 and in the first quarter of 2009, when securities markets and overall sentiment were plunging,” said Neal Elkin, president of REAL. “The question is will this mark the bottom or not.”

For the first time, the repeat sale transactions in April showed more negative than positive annualized rates of return. Overall, the South was the worst performing region, with all four property types seeing annual value declines of more than 20%.

To read the full report, visit www.realindices.com.