Home price index shows improvement in some metro areas

[FarCenter]

Following is a table of S&P Case-Shiller home price index declines relative to the peak that the index in each city reached a few years ago. Data is shown for last March and the most recent June report.

Las Vegas shows the worst performance, since prices were down 50% from peak in March and are now down 55%, a further 5% drop. Las Vegas has now overtaken Phoenix as the city with the biggest drop from the peak home prices.

Cleveland shows the best performance, since prices were down 20% from peak in March and are now down 14%, a 6% improvement.

The next best metro area is Dallas, which went from down 9% to down 6%, a 3% improvement. Several metro areas show 2% improvements.

While there are still a lot of adjustable rate mortgages to reset between now and 2011, as well as more subprime mortgages to default, the worst of the housing mess may be behind us.

                  March   June
NV-Las Vegas      -50%    -55%
AZ-Phoenix        -52%    -54%
FL-Miami          -47%    -48%
MI-Detroit        -44%    -45%
CA-San Francisco  -45%    -43%
CA-San Diego      -42%    -42%
CA-Los Angeles    -40%    -41%
FL-Tampa          -40%    -41%
MN-Minneapolis    -35%    -34%
DC-Washington     -33%    -31%
IL-Chicago        -27%    -26%
WA-Seattle        -21%    -22%
GA-Atlanta        -21%    -21%
NY-New York       -20%    -21%
OR-Portland       -19%    -20%
MA-Boston         -18%    -16%
OH-Cleveland      -20%    -14%
NC-Charlotte      -10%    -11%
CO-Denver         -12%    -10%
TX-Dallas          -9%     -6%

[David__77]

1. That price increases are an "improvement" is an editorial statement.

I happen not to agree.

[FarCenter]

2. It's an improvement in that there will be fewer mortgages going underwater

Which means fewer walk-away, less losses for the lenders, fewer foreclosures, and less erosion of neighborhood prices.

Why is that a bad thing?

[David__77]

4. It's bad when housing is unaffordable.

There are historical relationships between median income and prices and between rents and prices that are still way out of line.

There are still tremendous paper losses to be absorbed. Policy should be aimed at orderly bankruptcy reorganization, not sustaining prices that are socially harmful.

[Selatius]

5. If housing prices are being propped up due to speculation, it does not help workers.

It is of no help to people who want to own homes if housing prices are being inflated by speculation. A lot of people were suckered into getting mortgages with adjustable rates because they were told prices would continue to go up and that they could simply refi later on. Well, the housing bubble burst, and soon after the banks clamped down on liquidity. Next thing you know, people are being denied refinancing, and they end up with a mortgage that is bigger than the house itself. They got screwed, and the banks got a bail-out from the government.

[MercutioATC]

3. It's amazing what happens when you PAY people to buy stuff.

I'm not refuting the numbers, but the improvement is unsustainable...unless we plan to KEEP using taxpayer money to pay people to buy houses.