Rising home values encouraging for moving families

People who are selling their homes and moving away might benefit from strong home values across the nation.

A report by Freddie Mac indicated that home values in all nine U.S. Census divisions rose in the second quarter. It was the first time since the second quarter one year ago that all nine divisions saw positive growth in home values.

Values in the second quarter were 3.2 percent higher than they were in the previous quarter, but 0.2 percent lower on a year-over-year basis, reported Freddie Mac. That positive change came after the first quarter saw a 2.3 percent quarterly drop in home values, said the report.

"We saw increases in home values in the second quarter that were very strong across all regions - there is no doubt that some of this was due in part to the now-expired homebuyer tax credits which boosted sales activity as well as to the usual seasonal bump we see each Spring," said Freddie Mac's deputy chief economist Amy Crew Cutts. She added that if low rates encourage positive moving activity and climbing home sales, values could continue to rise.

Home values in some areas of the country were better than others. Moving activity in the Gulf Region, for instance, has been slow because the recent Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill had a very negative impact on home values there, according to CoreLogic.


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