Key Home Price Index Rises for Fifth Month

Home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in October for a fifth consecutive month, putting the housing market and economy farther along the path to recovery.

The S&P/Case-Shiller home-price index increased 0.4 percent from the prior month on a seasonally adjusted basis, after a 0.2 percent rise in September, the group said today in New York. The gauge was down 7.3 percent from October 2008, the smallest year- over-year decline since October 2007. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News anticipated a 7.2 percent drop.

Tax credits for first-time buyers and mortgage rates that are less than a percentage point from record lows may prevent the market from retreating after sales jumped 35 percent over the first 11 months of 2009. Rising home and stock prices over the past two quarters enabled households to recover 28 percent of the record $17.5 trillion of wealth lost since mid 2007.

Read Full Article from BusinessWeek

- Posted: 2009-12-29 11:40:36

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