Battered home values in 20 of America’s biggest metropolitan areas fell even farther in November, according to a widely watched measure of housing prices released Tuesday.

Home prices in November dropped 18.2% from a year earlier, not quite as bad as economists had expected, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Prices in 11 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed fell at record rates, and 14 areas reported double-digit declines from November 2007.

The 20-city index for November fell to 154.59, its lowest point since January 2004.

New York Times