One of the last big proclamations from the economists behind the Case Shiller index, which monitors resale home prices, was that prices would go sideways, essentially staying flat for years to come. Here's the latest prediction, and it's not very surprising: “I don’t think anybody is predicting that the [housing market] is going to go up very much in the next couple of years unless we see a resurgence of economic growth,” said S&P/Case-Shiller index co-creator Karl Case. Or, perhaps--in the short term-- more government intervention in terms of credits and giveaways. And the latest numbers: According to the S&P/Case-Shiller index, property values in 20 U.S. cities increased 3.2 percent in July from a year earlier, the smallest year- over-year gain since March, according to Bloomberg. "The gauge is a three-month average, which means the July data are still being influenced by transactions in May and June that may have benefited from the government homebuyer tax credit incentive." In Los Angeles, prices rose 7.5 percent from a year ago. Compare that to Las Vegas, which saw a 4.9 percent drop.
· Home price growth slows in July [MarketWatch]
· Case Says U.S. Housing Market Will Grow Slowly After Free-Fall: Tom Keene [Bloomberg]
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