A widely watched index showed home prices dropping by the sharpest annual rate on record in the third quarter.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index released Tuesday tumbled a record 16.6 percent during the quarter from the same period a year ago.
Prices are at levels not seen since the first quarter of 2004.
The sharpest drops came out of the West.
Phoenix posted the largest year-over-year decline in September of nearly 32 percent, while Las Vegas dropped 31 percent and San Francisco, nearly 30 percent.
Miami, Los Angeles and San Diego all recorded annual decreases above 25 percent.
