Low home prices begin looking up in South Florida

While housing prices in South Florida continue to hover well below 2010 levels and nearly 45 percent below peak levels, the Miami Herald found some evidence that a rebound was taking hold in the most recent Federal Housing Finance Agency home price index.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, home prices were down 6 percent and 4 percent year-over-year in Broward and Miami-Dade counties, respectively. But prices have actually increased, albeit ever-so-slightly, in the last two readings. That marks the first consecutvie gain in Broward since the fall of 2006 and for Miami-Dade since the summer of 2007.

While that paints a better picture of the South Florida market than Case-Shiller data did, the Herald argued that the FHFA figures were a better representation of the market. FHFA includes fewer foreclosure sales by only gleaning data from mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which have stricter lending policies. [Miami Herald]