In February, the housing market showed mixed signals, with annual declines of 3.6 and 3.5 percent for the 10- and 20-city composites, respectively, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price indices for January, released today. Of the 20 metropolitan statistical areas the survey covered, 15 showed better annual returns in February compared to January, however, nine metropolitan statistical areas — Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa — hit new post-crisis lows, according to the report. [more]

Home prices nationwide are finally bottoming out, though foreclosures threaten the market’s strength, Reuters reported. Reuters’ survey of 24 economists forecast the Case-Shiller Home Price Index rising 2 percent next year, up 0.5 percent from the 1.5 percent growth projected in the news agency’s January survey. [more]

Click image to enlargeThe Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index hit the housing industry with a double dose of bad news in a report released today. Not only did the report show a decline 0.6 percent in September compared to August in the 20 cities covered, but August’s index was downwardly revised to show a price decline in that month as well, despite a previously reported uptick.

The national index rose just 0.1 percent at the end of the third quarter of 2011 from the level recorded in the second quarter. Further the index reported an annual price decline of 3.9 percent, a slight improvement from the second quarter year-over-year decline of 5.8 percent. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

For the fifth consecutive month, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller
Home Price Index rose in August, indicating slight increases in
nationwide home prices. The 10-city and 20-city composites inched up
about 0.2 percent on a non-seasonally-adjusted basis over the previous
month, but remained unchanged when accounting for seasonal changes. The
20-city composite now stands at 142.84, 3.8 percent less than its August
2010 reading of 148.89.
The index is calibrated so that a score of 100 equals housing prices in January 2000. It peaked at 206.52 in July 2006.
Half of the 20 metropolitan areas polled showed increased housing prices
on a month-over-month basis, while 16 of them posted better annual
returns than they did in July.  – Adam Fusfeld Comments

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Professors Karl Case and Robert Shiller, founders of the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index appeared on Bloomberg TV (click the image to see the video) to discuss the results of the most recent index, which showed a 3.3 percent decline in housing prices in February. Case said the U.S. housing market has already experienced a so-called “double-dip,” as housing prices plummeted from their 2006 highs, then rebounded briefly due to the homebuyer’s tax credit, and now the market has returned to previous lows. Case cited an “incredible decline” in households — “we’re not building any new houses, and yet vacancy rates are still going up,” he said — as a major area for concern. Meanwhile, Shiller said the 8.8 percent unemployment rate and the difficulties associated with getting financing are plaguing the market. Comments

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Once the excess housing inventory now on the market has been sold, Yale
economist Robert Shiller says another housing bubble is possible.
Shiller, co-creator of the Case-Shiller Index, which measures housing
prices nationwide, said people are speculative enough about buying real
estate that a bubble could happen. Boston is one housing market where
such a bubble might take place, because the city’s property market has
not fallen as drastically as other cities’ housing markets. [more]