"U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed today..."

On a $200K home, that comes out to around $28,500. That's a lot of equity up in smoke, if you're lucky enough to have equity, and therein lies the problem - many folks don't.... I'm thinking the folks who are suffering through this don't rightly give two shits of a wooden nickel whether someone officially states we're in a recession or not, nor do they care whether it's brought abut by Democrat or Republican policy perturbations. They just want to know who's gonna help them get out of their disaster....

S&P: Home prices tumble a record 14.1 percent

Associated Press • May 27, 2008

NEW YORK -- U.S. home prices dropped at the sharpest rate in two decades during the first quarter, a closely watched index showed today, a somber indication that the housing slump continues to deepen.

Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller said its national home price index fell 14.1 percent in the first quarter compared with a year earlier, the lowest since its inception in 1988. The quarterly index covers all nine U.S. Census divisions. The narrower indices also set record declines. The 20-city index tumbled 14.4 percent during the quarter, the lowest since that index was started in 2001. The 10-city index plunged 15.3 percent, a record in its 20-year history. "There are very few silver linings that one can see in the data. Most of the nation appears to remain on a downward path," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee. Nineteen of the 20 metro areas reported annual declines, with 15 of them posting record lows. Six metro areas lost more than 20 percent. Las Vegas had the worst quarterly performance, falling 25.9 percent, followed by Miami and Phoenix. Only Charlotte, N.C., stayed above water, gaining less than 1 percent over the previous year.