Home prices dropped in 24 of 25 U.S. metropolitan areas in July, led by declines in Las Vegas and the coastal cities of California, as foreclosures depressed prices and accounted for a fifth of all sales.

Las Vegas had the biggest drop on a per-square foot basis, falling 33 percent in July from a year earlier, New York-based real estate data company Radar Logic said in a report Thursday.

Prices dropped 26.5 percent in San Diego from a year earlier, 24.1 percent in Miami, 17.9 percent in San Jose and 17.4 percent in Tampa, the report said.

The RPX Monthly Housing Market Report, published by Radar Logic, measures home values using price per square foot. The data reflects 28-day aggregated values, the company said.

''Buyers are increasingly reluctant,'' Radar Logic Chief Executive Officer Michael Feder said in an interview. ``There has been an awful lot of talk about the declining of the housing markets.''

Foreclosed properties accounted for about 21 percent of sales in July, up from 5.6 percent a year earlier, the report said. U.S. foreclosures rose to a record 2.75 percent of all mortgages in the second quarter, according to the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association. Foreclosed houses tend to sell at a discount of about 20 percent, according to research by Lehman Brothers Holdings. Those discounts are weighing on prices throughout the country, Radar Logic said.

''As you clear out the discount inventory, it is going to come back,'' Feder said of the housing market.

U.S. foreclosures have come in three waves, Moody's Economy.com Chief Economist Mark Zandi said this week.

The first hit in early 2006 when investors who bought houses intending to quickly resell them for a profit realized the boom was over and walked away. The second came a year later as owners who used adjustable-rate mortgages to buy in 2005 and 2006 began to see their monthly payments rise. Now, falling home prices combined with rising unemployment have spurred a third round, Zandi said.

In Los Angeles, foreclosures accounted for 34 percent of all sales in July, in Phoenix it was 33 percent, in Miami it was 14 percent, and in New York it was 3 percent, Radar Logic said.

The biggest price declines were in the California and southwestern states, according to the report.

Only Milwaukee saw home prices climb in July, rising 2.9 percent since July 2007. Prices have risen 3.6 percent there in the last two years. The only other city to see an increase in that period was Charlotte, N.C., which rose 1.5 percent.

''They didn't have the same boom, and their economy is somewhat more stable,'' Feder said of Wisconsin. ``They are, to some degree, not suffering the bust.''

The prices are the basis for property derivatives traded on the Residential Property Index, which has a volume of $2 billion. The index allows investors to benefit from the movement of metro area home prices without owning land or physical property.

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@