Home price declines letting up in Miami

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The pace of home price declines slowed in Miami and nationwide in January, but fewer U.S. cities experienced monthly gains, according to the latest data from Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index (see the full report below).

The Miami metro area registered a 0.2 percent month-over-month decrease in January, an improvement over the 0.3 percent monthly price decline registered a month earlier. Prices in the region were down 6.7 percent from January 2009.

When compared with January 2009, nationwide price declines were minimal overall, down only 0.7 percent on a year-over-year basis, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index. Meanwhile, the 10-city composite index was unchanged since last year. It’s the first time since January 2007 that prices have been so close to increasing, rather than decreasing, according to the report, and they are now at approximately the same levels as in the fall of 2003. Still, the 10- and 20-city composites were 33.5 percent and 32.6 percent, respectively, off their mid-2006 peaks.

“The report is mixed. While we continue to see improvements in the year-over-year data for all 20 cities, the rebound in housing prices seen last fall is fading,” David Blitzer of Standard & Poor’s said in a statement. “We are in a seasonally weak part of the year, but… we can’t say we’re out of the woods yet.” TRD
CSHomePrice Release Jan Results