U.S. home prices fell in January for the first time in at least six years (Shobhana Chandra)

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Today's data ``are a good indicator of the dire state of the U.S. residential real estate market,'' said Robert Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC and a professor at Yale University.

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index Declined 0.2%

By Shobhana Chandra

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. home prices fell in January for the first time in at least six years, a private report showed today.

A measure of home values in 20 metropolitan areas dropped 0.2 percent from the same month last year, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index. The decrease was the first since the group started keeping year-over-year records in January 2001.

The numbers follow a report yesterday that showed new-home sales at the lowest level in almost seven years as builders struggled with a glut of unsold dwellings. Falling prices make it harder for owners to borrow against home equity and may make lenders even more wary as delinquencies climb.

Today's data ``are a good indicator of the dire state of the U.S. residential real estate market,'' said Robert Shiller, chief economist at MacroMarkets LLC and a professor at Yale University.