Case-Shiller came out with the December numbers for its 20-city index of real estate prices and the results weren’t particularly good: 15 out of 20 cities showed month-over-month declines, though the overall index managed to eke out a seasonally-adjusted increase of 0.3 percent. The good news is that the index staged a 5 percent comeback starting in April 2009 after a six-month run that saw it lose 11 percent. The bad news is the number of markets with positive monthly returns has gradually decreased over that time from 18 in June to 4 in December. It also doesn’t bode particularly well that the Federal Government is expected stop its purchases of mortgage-backed securities in March, which in turn is likely to lead to a rise in mortgage rates; meanwhile, market pressure from a rising number of foreclosures is expected to keep downward pressure on prices. Seeking Alpha all that means the country’s in for a double dip. Here in New York City, prices fell about 1 percent month-over-month and a little more than 6 percent year-over-year, not as bad as Las Vegas or Miami, but far worse than some other cities like Boston or San Francisco where the downturn started much earlier.
U.S. Home Prices Rise Modestly [NY Times]
Case-Shiller Adds to Confusion on Housing Market [WSJ]
Graphic from Seeking Alpha