{"id":353699,"date":"2010-02-23T11:06:48","date_gmt":"2010-02-23T16:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.wsj.com\/economics\/2010\/02\/23\/a-look-at-case-shiller-by-metro-area-february-update\/"},"modified":"2010-02-23T11:06:48","modified_gmt":"2010-02-23T16:06:48","slug":"a-look-at-case-shiller-by-metro-area-february-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/353699","title":{"rendered":"A Look at Case-Shiller, by Metro Area (February Update)"},"content":{"rendered":"

The S&P\/Case-Shiller<\/strong> 20-city home-price index, a closely watched gauge of U.S. home prices, was mostly flat in December from a month earlier.<\/p>\n

The index declined 3.1% from a year earlier. On a month-to-month basis prices fell 0.2% in December from November, but adjusted for seasonal factors the 20-city index was 0.3% higher.<\/p>\n

On a seasonally adjusted basis, just five cities posted month-to-month declines. Unadjusted, 15 regions experienced home-price drops. The housing market is particularly sensitive to seasonal factors, especially in December as the holidays depress activity.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles posted the largest jump in prices, while Chicago posted the biggest drop.<\/p>\n

Four times a year, S&P\/Case-Shiller publishes a broader national index. On an unadjusted basis, home prices nationwide fell 1.1% in the fourth quarter from the third and dropped 2.5% from a year earlier. While all the indexes are recording annual declines, the pace has slowed, indicating more stabilization in the market.<\/p>\n

“These data do show that home prices are far more stable than they were during the depths of the financial crisis in the fourth quarter 2008,” said Dana Saporta<\/strong> of Stone & McCarthy Research<\/strong>. “But it is too soon to call recent home price data a clear signal of a sustained, broad-based recovery.”<\/p>\n