Home prices flatlined in August, remaining virtually unchanged from price levels seen in July of this year, but falling from August of 2010, according to the most recent monthly report from Standard & Poor’s/Case Shiller Home Price Index.
S&P Case Shiller Home Price Index – Home prices flatlined in August.
According to the index, home prices rose a meager 0.2 percent from July 2011 in both the 20-City and 10-City Composites, which track prices in key regional metropolises. Those same composites showed price declines of 3.8 percent and 3.5 percent respectively. Recovery remains spotty, with two metropolitan areas posting positive gains (Detroit and Washington, D.C.), while others move deeper into negative appreciation territory (Atlanta and Las Vegas). Overall, ten of the twenty markets tracked saw price declines in August, however 16 of the 20 markets have seen improvement in their annual rates of change, with price declines either slowing or reversing in those markets.
Experts point to growing strength in the Midwest as the primary driver of price stability, citing hiring in industries such as automobile manufacture as drivers of increased buyer demand.
The ten cities that saw positive monthly changes were:
1. Charlotte, North Carolina
2. Chicago, Illinois
3. Cleveland, Ohio
4. Dallas, Texas
5. Denver, Colorado
6. Detroit, Michigan
7. Minneapolis, Minnesota
8. New York, New York
9. Portland, Oregon
10. Washington, D. C.
Washington D. C. showed the strongest price gains at 1.6 percent over July, and a gain of 0.3 percent over August 2010. Detroit had an annual gain of 2.7 percent, with monthly price gains of 1.4 percent. Atlanta, Georgia saw the steepest monthly price declines (2.4 percent), while Phoenix, Arizona had the largest year-over-year drop (7.7 percent). Phoenix’s yearly change was nearly met by that of Portland, where prices have fallen 7.6 percent since August 2010.
Lows were reached in the 20-City Composite in March of this year, a trough from which prices have rebounded 3.9 percent. The 10-City Composite is also up 3.9 percent from its low, reached in April of 2009.
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