Home Prices Rise For First Time In A Year, FHFA Says

[Purveyor]

Source: MARKETWATCH

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. home prices rose 1.7% in January compared with December, the Federal Housing Finance Agency reported Tuesday. It was the first monthly increase in a year.

Home prices are down 6.3% in the past year and are down 9.6% from the peak in April 2006, the agency said. In December, the year-over-year decline was 8.8%.

Stephann Cotton of Cotton & Co. explains that a recent survey on buyer confidence shows that 34% of those polled expect a housing-market bottom within six months and 65% see a bottom within 12 months. Kelsey Hubbard reports. (March 23)

Falling home values have helped to plunge the global financial system into chaos because of mortgage-backed securities. Homeowners have lost trillions of dollars of wealth.

The "unexpected rise" in January was partially due to stronger sales in some markets, FHFA said. The FHFA index attempts to control for such changes in sales patterns, but the adjustment is not perfect, the agency said. The agency warned that its estimate was uncertain and subject to large revisions.

Read more: http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid={2B492854-BF5F-48A5-ADD4-355555D5BD2D}

[Beetwasher]

1. I Sure Hope This Is A Sign We're Bottoming Out

n/t

[sdfernando]

9. We haven't hit bottom yet

This MINOR uptick is like a result of the delay in foreclosures that is just ending. NODs have just shot up after a short pause. These will likely result in an increase in short sales and foreclosures.......and we have another round of Alt-A adjustments coming up.

At least thats what it looks like in my neck of the woods.

[Beetwasher]

12. Maybe, Maybe Not

n/t

[Dr.Phool]

2. The agency warned that its estimate was uncertain and subject to large revisions.

Large revisions?

[kestrel91316]

3. Home prices in SoCal are down 35-50% from a couple of years ago.

At least that's what my sources tell me. It's gonna take more than a 1.7% uptick to fix that.

[Dr.Phool]

4. Same here in Florida.

[Purveyor]

5. It will take multiple years, if then considering the falling US wage base, for those prices to ever

be achieved again.

[snooper2]

6. Homes were overvalued in SoCal by 35-50%

nt

[Dawgs]

7. Bullshit. Most home prices fell in February.

The slow winter market alwasy causes them to go down.

[mbperrin]

8. Can't compare January to December. Try January to January, year on year.

They're down.

[Baby Snooks]

10. According to government figures....

I wonder if the government realizes that the people have figured out that the goverment "cooks its books" and "juggles its figures" to convince the people that all is well in the kingdom even when it's not?

I sure would like to know which markets showed increased valuation which resulted in an overall increased valuation. Perhaps they used the sales prices of homes in Monaco which is about the only place on earth at the moment that there has been increased valuation. Even London has gone to hell in a real estate basket along with New York and Los Angeles and even Hong Kong. No one knows why Monaco is going up instead of down. It's probably becoming the new haven for the tax evaders.

Didn't the government also tell us a year ago we were not in a recession?

[dkofos]

11. Must be the rich bankers buying up property at firesale prices with our bailout bonuses.

[specimenfred1984]

13. Hilarious

Let's make it look like a positive no matter how wrong we are!

[GoesTo11]

14. This isn't the end of the decline.

Houses will be free soon.

I'll take two!

[PSPS]

15. This means nothing

Housing prices will always increase a little between December and January. It's the year-to-year that matters. Case-Shiller is the most dependable and accurate housing price index and it's showing a continuing downward trend. And it should, since houses are still overpriced.

I think the National Association of Realtors is behind this "story." Notice how they include a "survey on buyer confidence" to promote a bottom-calling. The fact is that there won't be any "bottom" until at least 2012 due to the huge numbers of Alt-A mortgages that will be recast and result in NOD's through 2011. And even when the "bottom" is reached, prices won't start going up for many years thereafter. It will just be a horizontal line on a graph. Why? Because, unless there's an increase in wages, there can't be any increase in housing prices because the fundamentals can't support it. Unless, of course, we go back to funny NINJA loans with no income documentation -- "liar loans." But those are gone for good now, I hope.