April 24, 2012 (Jeff Alan)

The was more bad news for condominium owners in the Chicago area in January as prices in the Windy City continued to plummet, leaving prices lower than they’ve been in 12 years according to Standard and Poor’s HouseViews.

Condo prices in Chicago, which fell a cumulative 11.5 percent from September through December, declined another 2.6 percent in January alone. January’s decline leaves prices for condos in the Chicago area 9.7 percent below what they were a year ago and back at the same level they were in January of 2000.

All five of the condominium markets covered by the S&P/Case-Shiller Indices posted a monthly decline in prices in January.

In California, the long slide in condo prices continued in January, with San Francisco suffering a monthly price decline of 1.5 percent while Los Angeles saw its prices decline 0.6 percent.

Condo prices in Los Angeles have fallen for 18 consecutive months leaving prices in the area 7.5 percent lower than they were a year ago.

In San Francisco, condo prices have fallen for nine consecutive months and for 16 out of the last 19 months leaving prices 6.9 percent lower than what they were a year earlier.

Condo prices in Los Angeles are now back to levels last seen in mid-2003, and in San Francisco, condo prices have dropped back to early-2002 levels.

Boston posted the smallest decline in condo prices of the five metro areas in January, followed by New York. Condo prices in Boston fell only 0.2 percent in January, while in New York, prices fell a modest 0.4 percent.

Year-over-year, condo prices in New York are up 0.3 percent from January of 2011, while prices in Boston are down 1.7 percent from a year ago. Condo prices in New York have dropped back to early-2005 levels and in Boston prices have fallen back to mid-2003 levels.

Since their respective housing market peaks, New York has also been the best performing market with condo prices falling only 16.0 percent since its peak. Los Angeles has suffered the largest drop in condo prices, declining 42.3 percent, followed by San Francisco at 37.9 percent and Chicago where area condo prices have fallen 37.8 percent since their market peak.

Tags: California, condo prices, S&P, Case-Shiller Index, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York, market prices

Source:
Standard and Poor