Case-Shiller Indices Reflect Six Months of Price Increases

Home prices extended their run ofrnincreases to six months in September with a 2.1 percent bump in the S&P/CasernShiller 10-City Index and a +3.0 percent change in the 20-City Index.  During the third quarter the Composite Indexrnrose 2.2 percent from the second quarter and 3.6 percent from the third quarterrnof 2011. Average home prices across both the 10-City and 20-City indicesrnincreased 0.3 percent in September and 17 of the 20 MSAs posted better annualrnreturns in September than they did in August. rn</p

David M. Blitzer, Chairman of thernS&P Index Committee said, “Home prices rose in the third quarter, markingrnthe sixth consecutive month of increasing prices.  In September’s report all three headlinerncomposites and 17 of the 20 cities gained over their levels of a year ago.  Month-over-month, 13 cities and bothrnComposites posted positive monthly gains.”</p

Blitzer said the September figuresrnmarked the beginning of the seasonally weak part of the year and the figures,rnwhich are not seasonally adjusted, showed five cities with lower prices in Septemberrnversus only one in August, however seasonally adjusted figures reversed thernpattern and only one city lost ground in September compared to two inrnAugust.  This shows that, despite thernseason, housing continues to improve.</p

</p

Phoenix was the city with the greatestrnprice improvement, up 20.4 percent on an annual basis.  Atlanta finally saw a slight increase of 0.1rnpercent to end 26 straight months of annual price declines.  Chicago and New York were the only two citiesrnto post negative annual numbers, down 1.5 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.  They also declined 0.6 percent and 0.1rnpercent on a monthly basis.</p

“Thirteen of the 20 cities recordedrnpositive monthly returns,” Blitzer said. rnBoston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, and New York saw modest drops inrnhome prices in September as compared to August. rnTampa and Washington DC were flat. rnWith six months of consistently rising home prices, it is safe to say wernare now in the midst of a recovery in the housing market.”</p

</p

As of September average home pricesrnacross the U.S. as gauged by both the 10-City and 20-City indices have returnedrnto autumn 2003 levels.  Measured fromrntheir June/July 2006 peaks both indices are down approximately 29 percent and eachrnhas now risen about 9 percent above the recent lows posted in March 2012.</p

The Case-Shiller indices track homernprices on a scale with a base of 100 representing home prices in January 2000rnfor a typical home located within the subject market.  Only three cities, Atlanta, Detroit, and LasrnVegas remain below the index base with Detroit, despite a 7.6 annual increase,rnhaving a level of 79.82. 

All Content Copyright © 2003 – 2009 Brown House Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.nReproduction in any form without permission of MortgageNewsDaily.com is prohibited.