Home Prices in the U.S. Continue to Head South

The Huffington Post-AOL News reports prices of residential properties posted the biggest quarterly drop since 2008.

Almost five years after home prices peaked, they're still moving in the wrong direction.

Home values fell 3 percent during the first three months of this year, according to a new report from data provider Zillow (top left chart). Even as the stock market climbs to three-year highs, and as payrolls tentatively expand, housing continues to fall in almost every U.S. metro area.

Prices won't find a bottom until 2012 at the soonest, Zillow predicts, meaning American homeowners could be in for at least another year of pain, according to Huffington Post-AOL News..

The Wall Street Journal reports the Zillow.com survey indicates nearly 30% of borrowers owe more than their homes are worth. . Prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months, according to Zillow.

The WSJ reports “last year, the housing market showed signs of improving as price depreciation slowed in some markets and stabilized in others. In response, a number of economists began forecasting that housing would hit a bottom in late 2011, then begin to recover.

“But the improvements, spurred by federal programs that gave buyers up to $8,000 in tax credits, proved fleeting. Sales collapsed when the credits expired last summer, and prices in many markets have been falling ever since," according to the WSJ.”