Housing Market Shows Promise

Standard & Poor and economists Case-Shiller recently reported data showing the month-over-month increased value of U.S. homes was 0.5%.  This slight increase means big things.  This marks the first monthly rise since July 2006.  Even though this study focuses on an index of 20 major cities, we know that it is saying a lot.  While the value of U.S. homes is still down, is the slight increase showing promise of a recovery?  Most agree that it is.  Right now, most Americans would be happy with a simple stabilization, which is most likely what we are going to see.  There are still many who argue that it only reflects the recent decline in foreclosure sales and prices will continue to fall, but the fact is, this news is encouraging.  To see this rise in value is something that we have not seen in years.  It is big news, good news, but I’m not so sure Americans are use to good news right now.  In this study of 20 major cities, there were still notably falling home values.  Las Vegas won this title with prices declining 2%.  But more importantly there were cities like Cleveland that had been suffering for a long time; they saw a rise of 4.1%!  There are many speculations on why we saw this increase in May.  For example, the interest rates were very low which could have helped the housing market.  The rate for a 30-year mortgage was below 5%, which made buyers excited therefore rising demand.  But let’s look at this for what it is, good news!  The glass is half full here; Let’s make sure it fills up!