U.S. real estate doesn’t get lots of good news these days. Hope, it appears, does spring eternal though. There is some good news, though. The last few consecutive months, the cost of homes have actually risen. The Case Shiller Price Index monitors home prices across 20 United States of America cities. Homes sold from the end of May to the end of June 2010 had a gain in rates, and also the two months before did too. Good news is hard to come by in real estate. It is one of the most negatively affected markets during the economic recession.
Small climb in house prices
Real estate activity is tracked by a lot of different organizations. However, Standard and Poor’s Case Shiller price index is one of the best authorities for home prices across 20 cities. There was a gain over the entire second quarter of 2010. Prices increased by 4.4 percent in that time, according to the New York Times. Last quarter, prices had a 2.8 percent drop. Also, home prices for second quarter of 2010 are 3.6 percent higher than for second quarter of 2009. For July, home prices rose 1 percent over June.
What’s the hook
Sales have dropped off while costs have somewhat gone up. The homebuyer tax credit helped to keep sales going. However, sales began to fall off once the credit lapsed. Home prices are likely to fall soon, as well. That said, one of the economists for whom the Case Shiller Price Index is named, Karl Case, thinks that there are lots of positives in the new data, as outlined by Bloomberg. Case believes that the market is going to take another year or so before it stabilizes and begins to improve.
It could be a whole lot worse
The tax credit was a stall at best; sales were stimulated and so were costs, however once it wore off the market started trending downward again. A truer state of the market can’t really emerge until governmental encumbrance has been removed. That said, there is some consolation. Things are better than last year.
Bloomberg
bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-31/karl-case-sees-a-lot-of-positive-stuff-in-housing-price-data-tom-keene.html
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/01/business/economy/01econ.html?partner=rss and emc=rss
