Home Prices Take Steepest Tumble Since 2000

(NEWSER) - May home prices rose month-over-month for the first time in almost three years, according to the S&P Case-Shiller Index, edging up 0.4% from April. That still left them 17% lower than they were a year ago, however, the Wall Street Journal reports, with home prices at around 2003 levels. “We likely do have a way to go before we see sustained home-price appreciation,” said the chairman of the S&P index committee. More»

Case-Shiller Home Price Index reverses 5 months of gains

(NEWSER) - After five straight months of gains through August, many market watchers had hoped home prices were finally trekking northward for good. No such luck: According to the just-released S&P/Case-Shiller Index, home prices fell in 19 of the nation’s 20 largest cities from September to October, bringing the index 3.4% lower than it was at this time last year. And while prices usually trend downward in the fall, the LA Times believes these figures portend a weak market in 2012. More»

Miami tops the latest list

(NEWSER) - Miami and LA might be beautiful places to live—but they’re really terrible places to find work. Those two cities top the list in a new Indeed.com analysis of the worst cities to find employment. Indeed, a job hunting site, compared federal unemployment records with its own job listings to arrive at this list, finding that in Miami there were more than four job seekers per listing, while LA had 3.48. More»

And there's no bottom in sight

(NEWSER) - The housing industry keeps finding new lows: Today's Case-Shiller price index shows that prices fell in the first quarter to the lowest levels since the crash began, reports the Wall Street Journal . The drop of 4.2%, on top of last quarter's 3.6% drop, is evidence of a "double dip in home prices across much of the nation," says an S&P official. The percentage of homeowners, meanwhile, has fallen to 66.4%, on par with levels in 1998, reports the New York Times . That's down from 69.2% in 2004. More»

July numbers up .6% from June, but demand weakening

(AP) - Home prices rose in July for the fourth straight month, but many cities are bracing for declines in the year ahead. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index increased 0.6% in July from June and 3.2% from a year ago. Twelve cities showed monthly price gains. However, seven cities showed month-over-month declines and the gains in many cities were weaker from the previous month as the boost from government tax credits for homebuyers fades. More»