Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected home prices in the 20-city Case-Shiller survey to decline 17.9% in October, on a year-over-year basis.

The areas with the largest annual percentage declines were: Phoenix, -32-7%, Las Vegas, -31.7%, San Francisco, -31.0%, Miami, 29.0%, Los Angeles, -27.9%, San Diego, -26.7%.

The two markets that fared the best, Dallas and Charlotte, declined 'only' -3.0% and -4.4%, respectively.

Economist Peter Dawson tried to be as polite as possible about the year-over-year price data, without ruining his economic credentials. "The decline was large, but not that much larger than expected," Dawson said. "Unfortunately, the housing recovery is not on the horizon. We will be very fortunate if we see a bottom in prices by Q3 2009 or Q4 2009. Right now that isn't likely. If you're in the market to buy a home, you will get a lower price if you wait a quarter or two, in many markets."

Year-over-year percentage price changes in other major U.S. cities were as follows: New York, -7.5%, Chicago, -10.8%, Boston, -6.0%, Washington, D.C., -18.0%, Atlanta, -10.5%, Denver, -5.2%, and Seattle, -10.2%.

Housing Sector / Economic Analysis: Still another horrible U.S. housing sector statistic, and the sector remains in deep recession. Economists almost universally agree that the sector is far from bottoming, with the earliest recovery seen in late 2009. The U.S. economy needs a healthy housing sector to achieve adequate GDP growth levels. Therefore, it goes with without saying, then, that the sooner the U.S. Treasury implements the FDIC's model refinance program, the better: it's a key factor in not only shutting-off the toxic asset pipeline, but also ending home price declines.