Home prices nationwide declined 2 percent in the third quarter after increasing nearly 5 percent in the second quarter, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
At the end of the quarter, home prices were 1.5 percent behind the same quarter a year ago.
In September, home prices in 18 of the 20 metropolitan areas tracked by Case-Shiller were down from the prior month.
In Boston, home prices declined 1.3 percent between August and September and were up 0.4 percent compared to September a year ago.
Overall, prices are above the lows to which they fell in the spring of 2009, but the expiration of federal tax incentives for homebuyers and mounting foreclosures “appear to be weighing down the market,” Case-Shiller said.
