Home sales and values fall

The National Home Sales Snapshop from DataQuick found weekly home sales of existing properties dropped nearly 5 percent in the week ending December 8, but home prices increased for the first time in two months.

The report showed 157,494 properties were sold in the 30 days leading up to December 8, a 7.9 percent decrease from the month prior. The median price of homes sold increased 1.1 percent to $177,000 from $175,000 the week before, marking the first price increase since October 6. However, home prices dropped 2 percent in the last month and are currently $7,000 away from reaching a five-year low.

The Zillow Real Estate Market Report found home values declined in October, falling 0.3 percent from values seen in September. The rate at which values are declining has shown signs of stabilizing, suggesting the housing market might soon hit bottom. On a year-over-year basis, the report showed home values have declined 5.1 percent and dropped 23.7 percent since the peak in May 2007.

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