The new year has brought some good news for the housing market, and not just in South Florida. According to a recent report on residential real estate, single-family home prices are continuing their upward trajectory across the country.
The news comes from the S&P/Case Shiller index, a survey tool which has been referenced in previous posts. Basically, this index is a survey of home prices in 20 large metropolitan areas. The latest data comes from October of last year, and it indicates that home prices rose 0.7 percent in that month, which was more than the 0.5 percent which was predicted.
While this data represents only a snap-shot of the condition of the nationwide housing market, the continued gains may indicate that the housing market is reaching toward a sustained recovery. That will be welcome news in many parts of the country, where the housing market recovery has been on a much slower pace than that found in South Florida.
Of course, reports like these always seem to have a “good news-bad news” element to them. Experts have warned that prices may not continue to rise, as they have done now for nine straight months in the S&P/Case Shiller index. A future dip in prices could be attributed to a pickup in buying of foreclosed properties. Or, as has been mentioned in the South Florida area, residential development could once again flood the market with inventory and reduce prices.
Whatever the market condition, it is important for both buyers and sellers to understand that residential property can be extremely fluid in value and demand. That is why it can be extremely important for those interested in jumping into the real estate market to get the best and most up-to-date information about market conditions before stepping into a real estate closing.
Source: Yahoo! Finance, “Home prices rose in ninth straight month: S&P,” Richard Leong, Dec. 26, 2012
