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It was reported today that the S&P’s Case-Schiller Home Price Index, a widely-watched measure of 20 major metropolitan areas, fell 19% in January from a year earlier. That was the highest drop the index has ever reported.

Areas that have fallen the most are now valued at about half of what they were during the peak in 2006. None of the 20 metro areas increased in price. Thirteen of the twenty reported a record drop. Phoenix experienced the greatest decline, down 5.5% from December and 48.5% from its peak in June 2006. Las Vegas, Miami, San Francisco and San Diego are not far behind. The city with the smallest decline is Dallas, TX. However, unlike most other cities, Dallas never had a boom, so it did not have as far to fall. Click “Read More” to see the video. (…)

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) reported today that defaults on home mortgages and delinquencies increased by 6.2% from a year earlier. According to the FHA’s report, 7.5% of FHA loans were “seriously delinquent.” Seriously delinquent loans are those that are 90 days or more over due, are in the foreclosure process or are in bankruptcy.

As of January, 2009, the cities with the highest FHA default rates were Punta Gorda, Fla. at 18%, Detroit at 15.6%, Flint, Mich. at 15.1%, Fort Myers-Cape Coral, Fla. at 15% and Elkhart-Goshen, Ind at 12.1%. A total of 39,687 HUD homes were foreclosed on in January, up 22% from a year earlier.

Have you taken money out of your ATM recently and been surprised by the name of your bank? You’re not alone. 2008 was the year of mergers and take-overs in the banking industry. To help keep track of who got hitched up (or gobbled up) here’s a short summary.

- Wells Fargo and Wachovia merged;
- Bank of America acquired Countrywide and Merrill Lynch;
- JPMorgan Chase acquired Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual;
- PNC Financial Service Group acquired National City Mortgage;
- MetLife acquired most of the mortgage operations of First Horizon;
- US Bank acquired Downey Savings & Loan and PFF Bank & Trust;
- IndyMac was seized by the government and will be sold to a group of private investors in 2009.

The good news is that, with all the government assistance, these banks have now loosened up lending guidelines and are offering historically low interest rates on home loans.