Home prices rose in nearly all major U.S. cities in April, further evidence that the housing market is slowly improving. According to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, the only top 20 metro area to see prices fall was Detroit.
Houses are cheap. Interest rates are low. And the economy is improving. Even Warren Buffett says that housing might be the best investment today. So should you run out and buy a home? Not necessarily.
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.
Sales of U.S. new homes fell in February for the second straight month, a reminder that the depressed housing market remains weak despite some improvement. But the Commerce Department also reported some positive signs.
Warren Buffett said Monday that stocks remain relatively cheap compared to other investments as the economy continues to improve. He also said that the company he heads is prepared to replace him whenever the need arises. The billionaire addressed a variety of topics during an interview on the cable TV network CNBC, two days after his annual letter to the conglomerate's shareholders was released.
The National Association of Realtors reported this week that sales of existing homes rose 4.3% in January, their third rise in four months. But there are other housing trends to consider that are much more telling than a modest uptick in sales.
Ben Bernanke says declines in home prices have forced many Americans to cut back sharply on spending warns that the trend could continue to weigh on the economy for years. The Federal Reserve chairman drew the connection between home values and consumer spending, which fuels 70 percent of economic activity, on Friday during a speech to the National Association of Home Builders in Orlando.
U.S. home prices fell for a third straight month in nearly all cities tracked by a major index. The declines show that most homeowners are not reaping the benefits from some signs of an improving housing market. Prices dropped in November from October in 19 of the 20 cities tracked, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index released Tuesday.
U.S. home prices fell in most major cities for the second straight month, further evidence that the housing recovery will be bumpy and weigh on the broader economy in 2012. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index released Tuesday showed prices dropped in October from September in 19 of the 20 cities tracked.
The year-end housing news is sobering: U.S. homes are expected to lose more than $681 billion in value in 2011. But there's an upside: That's 35% less than the $1.1 trillion lost in 2010, according to research from Zillow.
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.
Home prices dropped in nearly three quarters of U.S. cities over the summer, dragged down by a decline in buyer interest and a high number of foreclosures. The National Association of Realtors says the median price for previously occupied homes fell in the July-September from the same period last year in 111 out of 150 metropolitan areas tracked by the group.
Here's more evidence that the foreclosure crisis has changed the way we think about home ownership's place in the American dream. Nearly half of those polled in a newly released survey said that owning a home today was a "nightmare." But not all polls reflect such a pessimistic view.
Home prices rose in August in half of major cities measured by a private survey, a sign that prices are stabilizing in some hard-hit portions of the country. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday that prices increased in August from July in 10 of the 20 cities tracked.
Real estate bulls are relishing this week's fresh housing data: The Case-Shiller Index showed a 3.6% sequential uptick during the second quarter. Good news, to be sure, but home prices still fell during the first half of the year, and the trends in real estate don't look good for homeowners.