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U.S. home prices saw another minor uptick in August, fueling a “modest glimmer of hope” about a potential market recovery, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller report on U.S. residential real estate market.
The August S&P/Case-Shiller report, released in October, shows that both the 10-city and 20-city composites were up 0.2 percent that month, respectively, from July levels, but its continued improvement in year-over-year readings has analysts optimistic.
Still, the housing market isn’t out of the woods yet, which was at the center of the 2008 credit crisis, and has yet to stage a sustainable recovery deemed crucial to spur sustainable economic growth. Earlier this year, the market retested 2009 lows and has since stabilized just above those levels, but hasn’t moved much more.
Compared with last year, however, the hole seems to be getting shallower. While prices generally remained below year-earlier levels in August, the latest report shows year-over-year comparisons improving in 16 of the 20 cities surveyed. The exceptions are Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
That said, both the 10-city and 20-city composites are still more than 30 percent off their peak readings back in 2006, with national home prices still hovering around their mid-2003 levels. Also, the monthly statistics showed weakness, with half the cities surveyed showing price drops in August relative to July.
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2012
