March 8, 2012 (Jeff Alan)

Chicago posted the largest decline in condominium prices in 2011, falling 12.3 percent for the year, with most of the decline coming in the last four months of the year according to Standard and Poor’s HouseViews.

Condo prices in Chicago fell a cumulative 11.5 percent from September through December, 4.8 percent in the month of December alone, after only losing a cumulative 0.8 percent in the first eight months of the year.

Prices for condos in the Chicago area have now dropped back to their early-2000 levels.

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

In California, the long slide in condo prices continued in December, with San Francisco suffering a monthly price decline of 1.9 percent while Los Angeles saw its prices decline 1.0 percent.

Condo prices in Los Angeles have fallen for 17 consecutive months leaving prices in the area 7.5 percent lower than they were at the beginning of the year.

In San Francisco, condo prices have fallen for eight consecutive months and for 15 out of the last 18 months leaving prices 7.3 percent lower than what they were when the year started.

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.

New York posted the smallest decline in condo prices of the five metro areas in 2011, followed by Boston. Condo prices in New York fell only 0.2 percent since the beginning of the year, while in Boston, prices fell a modest 2.4 percent.

New York also had the smallest decline in monthly prices, falling 0.7 percent from November to December, while prices in Boston fell 1.2 percent for the month. 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 15.4 percent since its peak. Los Angeles has suffered the largest drop in condo prices, declining 41.9 percent, followed by San Francisco at 37.0 percent and Chicago where area condo prices have fallen 36.2 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