Greater New York home prices stay flat

The Greater New York metro region’s home prices stayed relatively flat year-over-year in May, according to real estate tracking firm CoreLogic. The region, which includes New York City, White Plains and Wayne, N.J., according to CoreLogic, saw its average home price drop just .1 percent in May, compared to the same month a year earlier. Meanwhile, nationwide home prices saw a 2.9 percent year-over-year increase on the index, marking the fourth consecutive month of yearly home price growth. But this data does not necessarily indicate that the housing market is out of the woods, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist with CoreLogic. Fleming said that the first-time homebuyer tax credit, which required contracts to be signed by the end of April, was the likely culprit behind the late Spring sales boost. “Given that the labor market and income growth remain tepid, we expect prices to moderate and possibly decline the rest of the year,” Fleming said. TRD