Case-Shiller: L.A./O.C. home prices down 39% from peak

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It’s another record-breaking decline for the 20-city Case-Shiller index of home prices. Nationwide, prices were down 19% in January from a year ago. In the Los Angeles/Orange County area, prices dropped 26% from a year ago, reported in the Times today.

Case-Shiller also splits markets into price tiers: high, low and middle. In the L.A. area, high-end prices were down 29% from their peak, but the low end is down 50%, while the mid-priced range is down 40%.

The low end was certainly hit harder by foreclosures and subprime lending. High-end areas tend to lag in real estate cycles, though, so there could be more room to fall in the top end.

The Case-Shiller index is favored by some over median sales prices to measure market changes. It compares sales of homes to their previous sales and factors in changes to the properties like remodeling.

It uses an index number rather than prices. An index score of 100 is equivalent to January 2000 prices. The L.A./O.C. index for January 2009 is 166.54, down 39% from its 2006 peak.

— Peter Y. Hong