Home prices falling faster in biggest US cities

NEW YORK: Home prices are dropping in America's largest cities and are expected to fall through next year, with the worst declines coming in areas with high numbers of foreclosures.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index fell 1.3 percent in October from September. All cities recorded monthly price declines.

Atlanta recorded the largest decline. Prices there fell 2.9 percent from a month earlier. Home prices in Washington dropped 0.2 percent in October, the second monthly decline after five straight increases.

The 20-city index has risen 4.4 percent from their April 2009 bottom. But it remains 29.6 percent below its July 2006 peak.