David M. Blitzer, Chairman of thernIndex Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices said of the February results thatrnwhile monthly results held steady the annual rates for both indices cooled thernmost they have in some time.  “Thernthree California cities and Las Vegas have the strongest increases over thernlast 12 months as the West continues to lead. Denver and Dallas remain the onlyrncities which have reached new post-crisis price peaks. The Northeast with NewrnYork, Washington and Boston are seeing some of the slowest year-over-yearrngains. However, even there prices are above their levels of early 2013. On arnmonth-to-month basis, there is clear weakness. Seasonally adjusted data showrnprices rose in 19 cities, but a majority at a slower pace than in January.”</p

Blitzer said that even with recentrnprice increases most housing statistics are weak with sales of both new andrnexisting houses either flat or down.  “Thernrecovery in housing starts, now less than one million units at annual rates, isrnfaltering. Moreover, home prices nationally have not made it back torn2005.  Mortgage interest rates, which jumped in May last year and arernsteady since then, are blamed by some analysts for the weakness. Others citerndifficulties in qualifying for loans and concerns about consumer confidence.rnThe result is less demand and fewer homes being built,” he said.</p

“Five years into the recoveryrnfrom the recession, the economy will need to look to gains in consumer spendingrnand business investment more than housing,” Blitzer continued.  “Long overdue activity in residentialrnconstruction would be welcome, but is certainly not assured.”</p

As of February 2014, average homernprices across the United States are back to their mid-2004 levels. Measuredrnfrom their June/July 2006 peaks, the peak-to-current decline for bothrnComposites is approximately 20 percent. The recovery from the March 2012 lowsrnis 23 percent for the 10-City and 20-City Composites.

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