home prices decline

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.

Just when it looked like housing prices were bottoming out and now was the time to snap up the best bargains comes news that may make you want to wait. The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices show that real estate prices are continuing to descend.

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.

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.

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.

As President Obama took part in his first-ever Twitter-facilitated town hall, jobs and the economy were high on the agenda. In line with those themes, the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute held a little get-together of its own to outline 10 key facts about the recovery and what's really wrong with the economy.

The long term isn't looking good for the greenback: Central bank managers don't see it keeping its status as the world's reserve currency. The short term's not looking so hot for the U.S. economy either: Housing prices are down another 4% year over year, and confidence is falling.

Fewer Americans are having trouble paying their mortgages now compared to a year ago, according to a new survey. The bad news? Fewer Americans have mortgages. Some of those who were struggling last year have since sold or foreclosed.

Common sense suggests that as home prices decline, the property taxes based on their valuations ought to as well. But property taxes nationally are clicking higher. Why is this occurring? Several factors are at work -- and they bode ill for state budgets.