S&P says 3Q housing prices dropped by sharpest rate in index's 21-year history

NEW YORK -- U.S. home prices fell 4.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the sharpest drop since Standard & Poor began its nationwide housing index in 1987, the research group said Tuesday.

S&P also reported that prices fell 1.7 percent from the previous quarter, the largest consecutive quarterly decline in the index's history.

The S&P/Case-Schiller quarterly index tracks prices of existing single-family homes across the nation compared with a year earlier.

A separate index that covers 20 U.S. metropolitan areas dropped 4.9 percent in September from a year earlier. A 10-area index decreased 5.5 percent from the previous year.