NEW YORK - Home prices tumbled by the sharpest annual rate ever in August, with little indication of a turnaround in sight, a closely watched index showed Tuesday.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city housing index dropped a record 16.6 percent from August last year, the largest drop since its inception in 2000. The 10-city index plunged 17.7 percent, its biggest decline in its 21-year history.

CHADDS FORD - When the new Congress convenes in January, land trusts across the country are planning a major initiative to reintroduce legislation to extend indefinitely the tax benefits for people donating a conservation easement.
Under legislation passed as part of the Farm Bill in May, the current tax benefits will expire at the end of 2009.
Two bills introduced this year to make the tax benefits permanent, one in the Senate and one in the House, did not pass, although House Bill 1576 has more than 176 House members supporting it.
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Commercial real estate company Liberty Property Trust said Monday that Vanguard Group has moved into the first LEED Silver registered renovated office building in the King of Prussia area.
The complete renovation of the 89,914-square-foot building, located at 151 S. Warner Road, began last spring.
Mutual fund giant Vanguard, based in Tredyffrin, will occupy the entire space.
The original building was expanded by 6,000 square feet and now includes energy-reducing features.

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WASHINGTON - Layoffs, plunging home prices and tumbling investments have pushed consumer pessimism to record levels in October, a private research group said Tuesday. Wall Street shook it off, though, focusing instead on higher global markets amid optimism the Federal Reserve will ease interest rates further.
The Conference Board said the consumer confidence index fell to 38, down from a revised 61.4 in September and significantly below analysts' expectations of 52.
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