This bit of positive news comes directly from Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, after releasing a study of home prices for the month of July, 2010.
“There’s an awful lot of positive stuff here in our number today,” said Case in a radio interview on “Bloomberg Surveillance” on August 31. He shines a positive light on the housing market’s status based on the fact that since last year’s numbers, property values have increased a whopping 4.2%. It may not seem like much but as Case points out, “[it’s] a continuing increase for almost a year now.”
Considering that the index is a moving three-month average, home stats from April, May and June could still be influencing numbers because of the governments incentive programs that boosted home sales last spring, (will the evidence of that stimulus ever fade?) which means that coming months could neglect to show such steady growth.
“It generally takes four or five years to stabilize the whole market,” says Case, “[and] we’re into about four now.” Only one more year to go.
Despite the fallout from the removal of the homebuyer tax incentives, Case is right: the market is steadily growing—it’s just going to take time.
Tags: Karl Case, Market Growth, S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index
