Case Shiller

Most homebuilders saw their shares pop higher Tuesday after heavyweight Lennar released better-than-expected quarterly numbers -- but not KB Home. In fact, its shares actually fell. Here's why KB isn't invited to the housing recovery party.

Home prices fell in January for a fifth straight month in most major U.S. cities, as modest sales increases have yet to boost prices. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday showed that prices dropped in January from December in 16 of 19 cities tracked.

A private research group says that consumer confidence in February rose dramatically from last month to the highest level since a year ago when the U.S. economy's outlook started to look brighter before souring again. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index now stands at 70.8, up from a revised 61.5 in January, helped by consumers' improving assessment of the job market. Analysts had expected a reading of 63. The February reading marks the highest level since February 2011 when it was 72.0.

U.S. home prices are falling again in most major cities after posting small gains over in the summer and spring, the latest evidence that the troubled housing market won't recover any time soon. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index shows prices dropped in September from August in 17 of the 20 cities tracked.

Some recent reports on the real estate market show home prices starting to stabilize in many areas. Other data suggests the housing market has further to fall. But whichever direction the numbers are heading, there are few tenets that smart buyers and sellers should always follow.

While home prices were falling last fall nearly nationwide, the pace of sales has picked up more recently. Overall, it seems clear that the worst of the housing debacle has passed. It's just that the U.S. remains on a slow, grinding track back to housing health.

U.S. home prices in 20 major cities fell a worse-than-expected 0.7% in September, Case-Shiller said, as home-buyer demand ebbed with the approaching September 30 closing deadline for the home buyer tax credit. Further, low demand from buyers suggests continued home price weakness heading into 2011 until the large inventory of unsold homes is reduced.

A national gauge of home prices ticked up in July for the fourth straight month, but many cities are bracing for declines in the year ahead. The price increases were fueled by now-expired homebuyer tax credits. With the peak buying season over, a record number of foreclosures, job concerns and...

It has been two years since Lehman Brothers went under, sparking the Great Recession. While the banks have done surprisingly well in past two years, the economy is still struggling to recover and millions remain out of work. Here are 10 charts of key economic indicators to watch.

Home prices declined slightly in January from last year, but the pace of the price declines has slowed, according to S&P/Case-Shiller's Home Price Indices, a monthly report that monitors residential home prices in 20 metro areas across the U.S.