New York City area home prices stay flat, Case-Shiller report shows

New York City area home prices remained relatively flat in April, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures monthly home price changes in 20 U.S. metropolitan regions. In April, New York City-area’s home prices declined 1 percent on the index, compared to April 2009, and dropped .3 percent compared to March. Some New York City area real estate experts have questioned the report’s validity in their market, since it doesn’t include co-ops or condos in its report. Nationwide, despite the uptick in market activity due to the expiration of the first-time homebuyer tax credit, home prices showed only modest improvement in April, compared to the same month a year earlier. The 10-city composite was up 4.6 percent in the report, while the 20-city composite was up 3.8 percent over April 2009. David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, suggested that the improvement in nationwide data was due in large part to a drastic improvement in California — where San Diego and San Francisco both saw double-digit improvements year-over-year — and not a nationwide shift. “Home price levels remain close to the April 2009 lows,” Blitzer said. “Consistent and sustained boosts to economic growth from housing may have to wait to next year.”