Los Angeles Times – The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index recorded a sharp 8.1 percent year-over-year increase in January, underscoring the vigor of the recent housing recovery.

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Data through January 2013, released by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed average home prices increased 7.3 percent for the 10-City Composite and 8.1 percent for the 20-City Composite in the 12 months ending in January 2013.

All 20 cities posted year-over-year gains with Phoenix leading the way with a gain of 23.2 percent. Nineteen of the 20 cities showed acceleration in their year-over-year returns. Despite posting a positive double-digit annual return, Detroit was the only city to show a deceleration. After 28 months of negative annual returns, New York came into positive territory in January.

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Data through November 2012, released Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, showed home prices rose 4.5 percent for the 10-City Composite and 5.5 percent for the 20-City Composite in the 12 months ending in November 2012.

In the 12 months ended in November, prices rose in 19 of the 20 cities and declined in New York. In 19 cities, prices rose faster in the 12 months to November than in the 12 months to October; Cleveland prices rose at the same pace in both time periods. Phoenix led with the fastest price rise – up 22.8 percent in 12 months as it posted its seventh consecutive month of double-digit annual returns.

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San Francisco Chronicle – Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller reported Tuesday that its 20-city index of home prices rose 3 percent in September compared with the same month last year.

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The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices showed that home prices continued to rise in the third quarter of 2012. The national composite increased 3.6 percent in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the third quarter of 2011 and was up 2.2 percent compared with the second quarter of 2012.

In September 2012, the 10- and 20-City Composites showed annual returns of 2.1 percent and 3 percent. Average home prices in the 10- and 20-City Composites were each up by 0.3 percent in September compared with August 2012. Seventeen of the 20 MSAs and both Composites posted better annual returns in September than in August.

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The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices showed average home prices increased 0.9 percent for both the 10- and 20-City Composites in August compared with July. Nineteen of the 20 cities and both Composites posted positive monthly gains in August; Seattle was the only exception where prices declined 0.1 percent over the month.

The 10- and 20-City Composites recorded annual returns of 1.3 percent and 2 percent in August 2012. Eighteen of the 20 cities and both Composites posted better annual returns in August compared with July 2012.

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CNN Money – According to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, which covers more than 80% of the housing market in the United States, the typical home price in July rose 1.6% compared to the previous month.

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CNN Money – The S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, which covers more than 80 percent of the housing market in the United States, climbed 6.9 percent in the three months ended June 30 compared to the first three months of 2012.

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• Two other key indexes covered in the S&P/Case-Shiller report also showed gains. The 20-city index was up 6 percent on the second quarter, and the 10-city index rose 5.8 percent.
   
• National prices were up 1.2 percent compared with a year earlier, and the 20-city and 10-city indexes also gained year over year. It was the first time all three measures showed positive annual growth rates since the summer of 2010, when generous tax credits for home buyers were in place.
   
• The steep increase in home prices “feels really good after six years of straight down,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics. 
   
• He cautioned that the results may overstate the case for the housing recovery a bit. The mix of homes being sold has changed lately, with fewer repossessed homes on the market. Those sell at big discounts to conventionally sold homes and had been propelling prices downward.
   
• As home values increase, home equity rises, and fewer mortgage borrowers will be underwater, owing more than their homes are worth. That will give them an asset to tap should they run into a tight financial patch. 
   
• An improving housing market will also give homeowners more confidence in the investments they’ve made in their homes.

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Los Angeles Times – Average home prices in the nation’s 20 biggest cities rose 2.2 percent in May from the prior month, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Index, a closely watched index.

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Data through March 2012, released Tuesday by S&P Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed that all three headline composites ended the first quarter of 2012 at new lows. The national composite declined 2 percent in the first quarter of 2012 and was down 1.9 percent compared with the first quarter of 2011. The 10- and 20-City Composites posted respective declines of 2.8 percent and 2.6 percent in March 2012.

Month-over-month, their changes were minimal; average home prices in the 10-City Composite fell by 0.1 percent compared with February and the 20-City remained basically unchanged in March over February. However, with thi latest data, all three composites still posted their lowest levels since the housing crisis began in mid-2006.

In addition to the three composites, five cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York, and Portland – also saw average home prices hit new lows. This is an improvement over the nine cities reported last month.

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