U.S. home prices fell 8.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, the steepest decline in at least 20 years, according to Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday.

The index reports year-over-year declines in 17 out of 20 metropolitan areas, with double digital declines in eight of them.

"We will experience the most substantial decline in history because before this we had experienced the most unprecedented rise in U.S. real estate history," says Peter Schiff, author of Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index showed the Miami market was the weakest surveyed, posting a 17.5 percent annual decline. Las Vegas and Phoenix followed with a 15.3 percent drop each. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Detroit, and Tampa, Fla., all recorded double-digit annual declines.

Only three metro areas — Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and Seattle — showed year-over-year increases in prices, but Seattle's growth was up only 0.5 percent.

Source: The Associated Press, J.W. Elphinstone (02/26/08)