By Roger Showley
STAFF WRITER

May 23, 2008

In yet another sign of weakness in the housing sector, a government measure of home prices showed the sharpest nationwide decline in its 17-year history, down 3.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Yesterday's report from the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight showed prices in San Diego County down 10.1 percent in that period. That was the 27th-largest decline out of 292 metro areas in the report.

Merced dropped the most, down 24.7 percent, reflecting a general downturn in the Central Valley, plagued by overbuilding during the early-2000s boom.

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