91 cities post home price increases: NAR

Home prices appear to be stabilizing, with a growing number of cities posting year-over-year price gains for single-family homes in the first quarter, according to a recent survey by the National Association of Realtors. Of the 152 cities surveyed, 91 saw prices rise — up from 67 in the fourth quarter of 2009 — and 29 of those cities saw double-digit increases. The median U.S. single-family home price held relatively steady at $166,000, a 0.7 percent decline from the first quarter of 2009. “The tax credit has been very effective in drawing down excess inventory, with about one million additional sales resulting directly from the stimulus,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. But the tax credit also dragged some prices down, according a report released today by Trulia.com. As of May 1, 22 percent of listings on the market nationwide had seen at least one price cut, up 10 percent from one month ago, which amounted to a total of $25 billion slashed off asking prices for U.S. homes. TRD