Home prices fall

A surplus inventory caused by a wave of foreclosures is driving down home prices in major U.S. cities to levels last seen in 2002, although Los Angeles is faring better than most other cities, a research firm said Tuesday.Daily News.

Prices fell from February to March in 18 of the metro areas tracked by the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city index. The damage has now gone well beyond cities hit hardest by unemployment and foreclosures, such as Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Nationally, prices fell 4.2 percent in the first quarter, following a 3.6 percent drop in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to the study. Prices also were down 5.1 percent from a year earlier.