By: Dennis Norman
According to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, home prices in July declined 12.8 percent from a year ago in their 10-city composite and 13.3 percent in their 20-city composite. On a positive note, all 20 metro areas showed an improvement in the annual rates of decline when comparing July to June.
Prices in 18 of the 20 metros in the 20-city composite increased in July and 13 of the metros have had at least three consecutive months of price increases. According to the report these figures continue to support an indication of stabilization in national real estate values, but “we do need to be cautious in coming months to assess whether the housing market will weather the expiration of the Federal First Time Buyer’s Tax Credit in November, anticipated higher unemployment rates and a possible increase in foreclosures.”
The report goes on to state that “average home prices across the United States are at similar levels to where tehy were in the autumn of 2003.”
The S&P/Case-Shiller report talks about stabilization of home values but does not talk about recovery. My recent comments have been similar as I do think we are seeing some stabilization in prices but I think we are a long way from a “recovery”. As far as prices, I still think in many markets, we still have more “correction” to come unfortunately.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.