Home prices made a slight recovery in the second quarter from this year's earlier lows, but are still well below year-ago levels, according to the latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
On a national basis, house prices were up 3.6 percent in the second quarter compared to a 4.1 percent drop in the first quarter. The second quarter's prices were still 5.9 percent below those a year ago. Home prices were pushed up in the first half of last year with the federal tax credit.
All 20 metro areas measured by Case-Shiller were down from a year ago, with Minneapolis (down 10.8 percent) and Portland (down 9.6) percent faring the worst. Nineteen of 20 markets (all except Portland) were up from the first quarter.
"Looking across the cities, eight bottomed in 2009 and have remained above their lows," said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices. "These include all the California cities plus Dallas, Denver and Washington DC, all relatively strong markets. At the other extreme, those which set new lows in 2011 include the four Sunbelt cities – Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix and Tampa – as well as the weakest of all, Detroit. These shifts suggest that we are back to regional housing markets, rather than a national housing market where everything rose and fell together."
Advertisement
Related Stories
New-Home Sales
Mortgage Rates Are Up but New-Home Sales Still Solid in March
Lack of existing home inventory drove a rise in new-home sales, despite higher interest rates in March
Labor + Trade Relations
Who's Earning What in Construction
Workers in construction management roles may earn a higher median wage, but on average, lower-paid occupations have experienced somewhat faster wage growth
Build to Rent
Build-to-Rent Is Booming, Particularly in These Metros
A recent report finds that the Phoenix metro leads with more than 4,000 build-to-rent units completed in 2023, and Texas is the leading state for build-to-rent development