INSTANT VIEW: Single-family home prices plunge in Sept

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 16.6 percent in August from a year earlier, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

KEY POINTS: * The composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 1.0 percent in August from July, S&P said in a statement on Tuesday. * S&P said its composite index of 10 metropolitan areas declined 1.1 percent in August from July for a 17.7 percent year-over-year drop, also a record. * The acceleration in decline, however, was only moderate in August, S&P said.

COMMENTS:

ANDREW RICHMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, SUNTRUST'S PERSONAL ASSET MANAGEMENT DIVISION, WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA:

"Prices have come down significantly. We have also recently seen that new construction is down, so we are starting to get inventory reduction. There is a long way to go, but we are starting to move in the right direction."

"Banks will still have to loosen up on new mortgages: that is key."

PIERRE ELLIS, SENIOR ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS, NEW YORK:

"It's improving in a very halting way in the sense that the number of markets where we see smaller declines in housing prices is significantly more than zero. You now have seven markets that look a little better than they did a year ago in year-over-year terms, while in July there were only six.

"But these data are for August, before the real storm hit in terms of financing troubles and people's recognition of their seriously damaged balance sheets due to the stock market falling apart. This reading came only on the brink of great difficulties, both in terms of obtaining financing and willingness to buy a home in the first place. We need to see what happened to home prices in September and October, mainly October. But such as it is, at least a few markets are showing smaller month-to-month declines than they did last year. And that's what a bottoming of prices will eventually look like."

MICHELLE MEYER, ECONOMIST, BARCLAYS CAPITAL, NEW YORK:

"If you look at the components, the weakness is still driven by the bubble markets where prices are still falling quite sharply. Prices in some regions like in Boston are either stabilizing and even rising a bit."

"If you look it at nationally, the continued decline in home prices will continue to be a strain on consumers. The economy is indeed in a recession. We'll be weak for the next several quarters."

PETER KENNY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KNIGHT EQUITY MARKETS, JERSEY CITY, NJ:

The results are in line, and part of a growing consensus that Case-Shiller numbers are indicating that the worst of the housing collapse is over. It indicates that the projected weakness of the market is a known variable, not a question mark. That's good for the market. It is one piece of the puzzle, part of today's mosaic, and it's a constructive piece.

RON SIMPSON, DIRECTOR, FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESEARCH, ACTION ECONOMICS, TAMPA, FLORIDA:

"Forget about it. The market is not focused on Case-Shiller. At best it is a not-widely-followed release and given the credit and equity markets and massive volatility in the foreign exchange market, traders will disregard this report in a hurry."

MARKET REACTION: STOCKS: U.S. equity index futures hold gains after data. BONDS: Treasury debt prices little changed. DOLLAR: U.S. dollar unchanged.