The 500-stock index, considered a better harbinger of the U.S. market thanks to its breadth and depth, closed at 1, 569 Thursday, up 0.4% on the day and 10% for the first three months of 2013.

FORBES: HP Paces Dow's Big Quarter, Leaves Caterpillar In The Dust

In America, the collapse is striking both for its severity and its breadth: home prices fell in every city covered by Case-Shiller's 20-city composite index in September.

ECONOMIST: House prices are falling just about everywhere