Home prices rise, but remain below last year’s figures

Jun 28 2011

Home prices rise, but remain below last year’s figures

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Finance News

Home prices rose in April for the first time in eight months but are still lower than they were at the same time last year, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Index.

Prices rose by an average of 0.7 percent, benefitting from a strong selling season in the spring. However, prices did fall 0.1 percent when adjusted for inflation, and overall, prices are still down 4 percent from last years averages.

Still, the rise was a positive sign after last months Case-Shiller Index revealed that home prices had fallen more over the past five years than they did during the Great Depression. In March, the average American home cost 33 percent less than it did during the peak of the housing bubble in 2006.

Home prices in April were still down 32.8 percent from that 2006 peak, but are back to the levels they were at in the summer of 2003, according to the latest report.

The report, which was released Tuesday, is a composite index of home prices from 20 metropolitan areas. The index for April was 138.84, eclipsing Marchs figure of 138.16.

Only seven citiesBoston, Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami, and Tampashowed a decrease in home prices over the past month. Washington, D.C. continued to show the strongest increase, with prices rising 3 percent.

Over the past year, Minneapolis (minus-11 percent) has shown the largest decrease in prices, while Washington, D.C. (4 percent) was the only market to experience an increase.

Sources:
April seasonal boost in home prices
Home prices have slid more than during Great Depression

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