Merrill Lynch report, home prices will drop 15 percent this year

Housing prices to free fall in 2008 - Merrill | According to a Merrill Lynch report, home prices will drop 15 percent this year, and declines will continue in 2009. | By David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer | January 23 2008: 5:24 PM EST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The worst housing financial crisis in decades is only going to get worse, a Merrill Lynch report said Wednesday.

The investment bank forecasted a 15 percent drop in housing prices in 2008 and a further 10 percent drop in 2009, with even more depreciation likely in 2010.

By contrast, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) expects housing prices to remain flat in 2008. NAR did cut its home price estimate for the current quarter, however, to a 5.3 percent year-over-year decline, which represents the steepest drop in that price measure on record. But NAR sees an uptick in home prices in the last two quarters of 2008. ..