Home prices increased in the month of April by 0.8 percent, adding to the overall annual increase.
The change was made possible by federal assistance to the housing market that has shown lackluster numbers since the beginning of the latest economic recession.
The increase was calculated by a 20-city home price index compiled Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller. The 0.8 percent increase was the first positive gain by national home prices in the past seven months and the annual increase currently stands at 3.8 percent.
U.S. home prices are still worth 30 percent less than the numbers recorded in July of 2006, reported The Associated Press.
“Other housing data confirm the large impact, and likely near-future pullback, of the federal program,” Standard & Poor representative David Blitzer told CNN Money.
The government assistance that helped cultivate the change in home prices has almost run its course.
In the next year, real estate companies and the U.S. government will watch to see how the market stands without assistance.
Housing market analyst Pat Newport seems to think that the numbers will fall right back down once the federal assistance ends.
“The housing glut and foreclosures will drive the national Case-Shiller index down another 6 percent to 8 percent, with prices bottoming in 2011,” Newport told CNN Money.
Home prices have varied across the nation in specific regions over the past year but the majority of the homes are selling for more money. The news couldn’t come any earlier for real estate agents who have suffered tremendously during the economic recession. California has shown the largest improvement over all other states in the nation.
The change was made possible by federal assistance to the housing market that has shown lackluster numbers since the beginning of the latest economic recession.
The increase was calculated by a 20-city home price index compiled Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller. The 0.8 percent increase was the first positive gain by national home prices in the past seven months and the annual increase currently stands at 3.8 percent.
U.S. home prices are still worth 30 percent less than the numbers recorded in July of 2006, reported The Associated Press.
“Other housing data confirm the large impact, and likely near-future pullback, of the federal program,” Standard & Poor representative David Blitzer told CNN Money.
The government assistance that helped cultivate the change in home prices has almost run its course.
In the next year, real estate companies and the U.S. government will watch to see how the market stands without assistance.
Housing market analyst Pat Newport seems to think that the numbers will fall right back down once the federal assistance ends.
“The housing glut and foreclosures will drive the national Case-Shiller index down another 6 percent to 8 percent, with prices bottoming in 2011,” Newport told CNN Money.
Home prices have varied across the nation in specific regions over the past year but the majority of the homes are selling for more money. The news couldn’t come any earlier for real estate agents who have suffered tremendously during the economic recession. California has shown the largest improvement over all other states in the nation.
