Home prices up in second quarter

S&P/Case-Schiller released its latest National Home Price Index which increased 3.6 percent in the second quarter of 2011, after falling 4.1 percent in the first quarter. The index is still 5.9 percent below the second quarter of 2010, bringing home prices back to the the levels of 2003.

According to the data, 19 of the 20 metropolitan areas surveyed showed monthly gains in home prices through June, with 12 of the 20 cities experiencing three consecutive months of growth. However, 13 of the 20 cities increased their annual growth rates, but remain in negative numbers for June.

David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indices, said no cities reported new record lows in June, and eight cities that bottomed out in 2009 have remained above their lows. But some cities did set new lows in 2011, including Tampa and Detroit.

"These shifts suggest that we are back to regional housing markets, rather than a national housing market where everything rose and fell together," Blitzer said.

In an interview with Bloomberg, Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight, said declining home equity and lower stock prices have hurt household wealth and consumer confidence.

"We still have a lot of foreclosures in the pipeline, a lot of excess supply, and demand for homes is continuing to weaken," Newport told the news source.  

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