CHANTILLY, Va. — Today's news that home prices fell 6.1% in October from a year ago in 20 of the largest metropolitan areas, following a 4.9% drop in September, making for a single monthly drop of 1.4% raises concerns that mortgage fallout is affecting consumers' ability to handle other debts. A survey by Online Resources here of 1,000 nationally representative US households found that Americans are prioritizing their bill paying ability, with mortgage payments topping the list (as expected) and credit card, phone and healthcare bills among those likely to be deferred.

The new survey also reinforces an earlier one that determined how consumers prefer to handle payment of delinquent bills, with the web channel and online bill payment being the preferred method.

The mortgage slide may now be correcting the unrealistic home value spike of the real estate boom, according to some economists, but sellers remain reluctant to lower prices, even as inventories increase. Tapping into home equity financed much of the consumer spending boom and the boomerang effect now is leading to increased defaults and subsequent foreclosures. Lower home values are now most pronounced in areas where they increased fastest, like Florida, California and the Southwest.