US prices see first gain

Published 10th Jul 2009

Finally there is some good news for the US market - residential property prices posted their first quarterly gain since 2006 - a sign that things are starting to look up in one of the countries hardest hit by the credit crisis...

According to the July Home Data Index from Valuation and Intelligence site Clear Capital, overall property prices rose by 1.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.

The Index Market Report provides a near real-time look at U.S. pricing conditions not only at the national and metropolitan levels, but within local markets too.

Each report offers a National/Four Region Overview and a ranking of the top 15 highest and lowest performing metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), followed by new micro market analysis.

The Index revealed that some parts of the country had shown an especially strong surge, with the Midwest leading the way with a price increase of 5.3 per cent - a rise that would have been unheard of just a few months back.

In the South property prices climbed two per cent from the previous quarter.

Clear Capital President Kevin Marshall, said, "We are encouraged to see the first quarterly national appreciation in three years.

"Foreclosure moratoriums, first time home buyer incentives, and investment activity have contributed to this springtime appreciation of home price trends," he added.

Whilst Cleveland in Ohio was one of the hardest hit locales in terms of foreclosure numbers, it was three cities in the state that posted the highest gains overall - with prices in Cleveland rising 19.6 per cent.

But some areas continued to record price falls and surprisingly two of the highest were tourist hotspots -Las Vegas where prices fell 12.4 per cent and Orlando where they were down 9.3 per cent.

In one of the worst hit states - California - things are on the up after a severe two year decline, according to a survey by the California Association of Realtors, (CAR) with residential property sales increasing by 27 per cent through the end of 2008 and beginning of 2009.

Source: ' TMC '

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