Home prices rise for 3rd straight month, still off from 2008

Home prices rise for 3rd straight month, still off from 2008
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
9:26 a.m. CDT, September 29, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/dow-home-prices-case-shiller-sep29,0,5688181.story


U.S. home prices rose in July from a month earlier, according to the S&P Case-Shiller home-price indexes, with just two of 20 metropolitan areas showing declines.

They were Las Vegas, one of the nation's most-battered markets, and Seattle. By contrast, 13 of the top 20 markets measured have had price gains for at least three straight months.

Home prices in the Chicago area rose 2.7 percent from June. But prices remain down 14.2 percent from July 2008's level.

David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee, said the rate of annual decline in home price values continues to decelerate, "and we now seem to be witnessing some sustained monthly increases across many of the markets."

Fourteen of 20 major metropolitan areas posted price declines of more than 10 percent from a year earlier. As of July, the 10-city index is down 33.5 percent from its mid-2006 peak, and the 20-city index is down 32.6 percent.

For the 16th straight month, every region posted year-over-year declines. Las Vegas again was the worst performer, posting a drop of 31.4 percent. The best year-on-year performer was Cleveland, which posted a 1.3 percent decline.

The data come after the Commerce Department last week said that new-home sales climbed for the fifth straight month in August as sharply lower prices lured buyers into the market despite worries about unemployment. However, the National Association of Realtors a day earlier reported demand for used homes fell unexpectedly in that month from July, the first decline after four months of increases.