Home values posted the largest decline in the first quarter since late 2009, "prompting many economists to push back their estimates of when the housing market will hit bottom," according to the lead story in today's edition of The Wall Street Journal by Nick Timiraos and Dawn Wotapka.

The article said that home values fell three percent in the first quarter from the previous quarter and 1.1 percent in March from the previous month, pushed down by an abundance of foreclosed homes on the market, according to data by real estate website Zillow.com, adding that the website maintains that "prices have now fallen for 57 consecutive months."

"While most economists expected sales to decline after tax credits expired, the drag on the market has been greater than many anticipated" and Stan Humphries, the chief economist of Zillow said that he "expected December and January to be bad," but monthly declines for February and March were "really staggering," the article said. They indicate "a reflection of the true underlying demand, which is now apparent because most of the tax credit is out of the system, and it's being completely overwhelmed by supply," he said, adding that he now believes prices won't hit bottom before next year and expects they will fall by another 7 to 9 percent.

On Friday, Fannie reported a $6.5 billion net loss, largely as it boosted loan-loss reserves in anticipation of falling home prices, the article said, noting that Paul Dales, a senior U. S. economist with Capital Economics, says prices could fall by a much as 10 percent, down form his previous forecasts of around 5 percent.

Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis posted the largest declines during the first quarter, while Pittsburgh, Dallas and Washington posted the smallest declines, the article said.