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The median price of a home sold in March dropped by 13.3 percent compared to March 2007, the biggest year-over-year price decline since a 14.6 percent plunge in July 1970.

The dismal news on new home sales followed earlier reports showing that sales of existing homes fell by 2 percent in March. Housing, which boomed for five years, has been in a prolonged slump for the past two years with sales and home prices falling at especially sharp rates in formerly boom areas of the country.

For March, sales were down in all regions of the country, dropping the most in the Northeast, a decline of 19.4 percent. Sales fell by 12.9 percent in the Midwest, 12.5 percent in the Midwest and 4.6 percent in the South.

In the Tallahassee market, sales were down 28.9% from March of 07 and the median price of a single family home was down 9.7% from March of 07. Single family home sales in the Tallahassee area in 07 was 360 and in 08 was 256, median price of a single family home in 07 was 188,800 and on 08 was 170,400.

We didn’t see the broad swings in interest rates this week as were experience in weeks past. With little new economic news for the week rates settled in for a slightly lower average then last week.

Ecnomic news was mixed for the week. The Fed is forecasting that with the recent rate cuts and the government stimulus packages will lead to faster economic growth for the remainder of the year. On the other side of the fence, the Pending Home Sales index fell more then expected in January and the index was down marginally from a year ago. Pending Home Sales is the leading indicators for the future direction of the housing market and NAR (National Association of REALTORS) is predicting flat home sales for the next several months.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

• Federal Reserve maps show key areas of concern

• What color is your state?

• Scroll down to the bottom for the website link

The Federal Reserve System now has a set of dynamic maps and data online that illustrate sub prime and alt-A mortgage loan conditions across the United States. The maps display regional variation in the condition of securitized, owner-occupied sub prime, and alt-A mortgage loans. The more intense the color, the bigger the problem or potential problem. Monthly updates are planned. The maps and data can be used to assist in the identification of existing and potential foreclosure hotspots, the Fed says. (Click on the link below to see the maps. Be advised that the site loads slowly, apparently affected by demand.)

The maps show the following information for sub prime and alt-A loans for each state and most of the counties and zip codes in the United States:

• Loans per 1,000 housing units

• Loans in foreclosure per 1,000 housing units

• Loans real estate owned (REO) per 1,000 housing units

• Share of loans that are adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs)

• Share of loans for which payments are current

• Share of loans that are 90-plus days delinquent

• Share of loans in foreclosure

• Median combined loan-to-value ratio (LTV) at origination

• Share of loans with low credit score (FICO) and high LTV at origination

• Share of loans with low- or no documentation

• Share of ARMs with initial reset in the next 12 months

• Share of loans with a late payment in the past 12 months

The maps are maintained by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

To access the data visit: http://www2.newyorkfed.org/mortgagemaps/