S&P’s Home Price Index Expands Coverage to 20 MSAs

Standard & Poor’s announced today that it is adding ten additional cities to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, expanding its coverage to 20 metropolitan areas. Beginning December 26, 2006, the following ten cities will be added to the S&P/ Case-Shiller® Home Price Indices: Atlanta, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Portland (Oregon), Seattle, and Tampa. In addition, a 20-city weighted composite index will also be published. “In just seven months, the S&P/Case-Shiller® Home Price Indices has established itself as the leading indicator on the overall health of the U.S. housing market,” said David Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at Standard & Poor’s. “The addition of these ten cities, and the 20-city weighted composite index, will ensure that the index remains the most authoritative, comprehensive and timely gauge of residential housing prices in the United States.” “These ten additional metro area indices, and a new, broader composite benchmark for U.S. housing, create even more opportunities for investment, risk management and financial innovation within this huge, $22 trillion asset class,” noted Robert J. Shiller, Chief Economist at MacroMarkets LLC. Historical pricing data on the ten additional cities, as well as the 20-city composite are now available at www.homeprice.standardandpoors.com.