NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of U.S. single-family homes plunged a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index reported on Tuesday.The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.2 percent in March from February and plummeted 14.4 percent from March 2007.Economists expected prices for the 20-city index to fall 2.0 percent on month and 14.0 percent from a year earlier, according to a median in a Reuters survey.S&P said its composite index of 10 metropolitan areas declined 2.4 percent in March, for a 15.3 percent year-over-year drop.(Reporting by Al Yoon; Editing by Tom Hals)
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