Good news for the United States real estate market is few and far between. Hope, seems like, does spring eternal though. There is some good news, though. There was a small increase in home values over the last few consecutive months. The Case Shiller Price Index has been showing slight upward trending of home prices, and a gain was recorded across 20 cities for homes sold between May and June 2010. Very good news is hard to come by in real estate. It is one of probably the most negatively affected markets during the recession.
Small climb in home costs
Real estate activity is tracked by a lot of different organizations. Nevertheless, Standard and Poor’s Case Shiller price index is one of the best authorities for home prices across 20 cities. Home prices increased by 4.4 percent, as outlined by the New York Times, over second quarter of 2010. The first quarter of this fiscal year saw a fall in home prices of 2.8 percent. Home prices are also up 3.6 percent since the end of second quarter 2009. Since June, the prices were nevertheless going up. Given, it was only by 1 percent.
Exactly what is the hook
Along with the rise in home prices, sales are trending downward. The lapse of the homebuyer tax credit led to sales falling off immediately. It’s likely that home prices will fall again. Nevertheless, not all is lost. Karl Case, the economist who the index is named for, according to Bloomberg, thinks you will find some positives in the new data. Case thinks the market hasn’t stabilized completely yet. He predicts at least one more year before the real estate market levels out.
It could possibly be a whole lot worse
The tax credit was a stall at best; sales were stimulated and so were prices, however once it wore off the market began trending downward again. True activity in real estate can’t resume until there is not anything keeping activity moving upward or down. That said, there is some consolation. Things are better than last year.
Additional reading
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
