Spring buying boosts home prices in 13 cities

WASHINGTON — Home prices in major U.S. cities have risen for the first time in eight months, boosted by an annual flurry of spring buyers.

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  Elaine Thompson, AP file
  A "sold" notice sits on a "for sale" sign of a house, in Seattle on June 9, 2011.

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Elaine Thompson, AP file

A "sold" notice sits on a "for sale" sign of a house, in Seattle on June 9, 2011.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home-price index reported Tuesday that prices rose in 13 of the 20 cities tracked in April. Washington, D.C., saw the biggest price increases, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta and Seattle.

Still, six metro areas are at their lowest levels in the nearly four years. Those markets are: Charlotte, Chicago, Detroit, Las Vegas, Miami and Tampa.

Home prices in big metro areas have sunk to their lowest since 2002. Since the bubble burst in 2006, prices have fallen more than they did during the Great Depression.

The index, which covers metro areas that include about 50% of U.S. households, rose 0.7% in April, the first increase since July. The index measures sales of select homes in those cities compared with prices in January 2000 and provides a three-month average price. The April data are the latest available.

Case-Shiller Home Price Index

Metro area	April 2011 index	Change from March	Change from April 2010
Atlanta	101.95	1.6%	-3.5%
Boston	147.07	-0.2%	-4.2%
Charlotte	108.42	-0.3%	-6.6%
Chicago	110.12	-0.4%	-8.6%
Cleveland	97.69	1.2%	-6.8%
Dallas	113.38	0.5%	-4.0%
Denver	122.32	1.5%	-4.1%
Detroit	62.74	-2.9%	-7.5%
Las Vegas	96.47	-0.7%	-6.2%
L.A.	168.2	0.3%	-2.1%
Miami	136.99	-0.2%	-5.6%
Minneapolis	106.07	0.4%	-11.1%
New York	164.17	0.8%	-2.8%
Phoenix	100.36	0.1%	-8.8%
Portland	132.84	0.1%	-9.2%
San Diego	154.5	0.4%	-4.3%
San Fran.	132.03	1.7%	-5.5%
Seattle	135.14	1.6%	-6.9%
Tampa	126.47	-0.4%	-7.7%
Washington	186.76	3.0%	4.0%
Composite	138.84	0.7%	-4.0%
Source: Standard & Poor's and Fiserv The index has a base value of 100 in January 2000; so, an index of 150 translates to 50% appreciation since January 2000 for a typical home located in the market.

David Blitzer, chairman of Standard & Poor's index committee, cautioned that while the price index increase was a "welcome shift from recent months," much of the improvement was likely because of the beginning of the traditionally busy spring and summer home-buying seasons.

A delay in processing foreclosures is also a factor. Homes in foreclosure sell at a 20% discount on average, which can hurt prices in neighborhoods. But many foreclosures have been delayed while federal regulators, state attorneys general and banks review how those foreclosures were carried out over the past two years.

Even with the increase, housing remains the weakest part of the U.S. economy.

Sales of previously occupied homes sank in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million. That's far below the roughly 6 million sold in healthy housing markets. Since the housing boom went bust in 2006, sales have fallen in four of the past five years.

New-home sales haven't fared any better. They fell in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 319,000 — fewer than half the 700,000 that economists say must be sold to sustain a healthy housing market. Sales of new homes have fallen 18% in the two years since the recession ended. Last year was the worst for new-home sales on records dating back half a century.

Larger down payment requirements, tougher lending standards and high unemployment are preventing people from buying homes. Many people who can afford to buy are holding off, worried that prices have yet to bottom out.

The depressed housing market has weighed on the broader economy. Declining home prices have kept people from selling their houses and moving to find jobs in growing areas. They have also made people feel less wealthy. That has reduced consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity.