Tuesday, March 31, 2009

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index Update

The latest data for the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index were published today and they were not pretty. Home prices were down 19% in the 12 months ending in January 09.

When I first looked at these data back in December 07, I was upbeat about the Atlanta market which did not seem to have experienced a real estate bubble. Since then, the Atlanta home prices have fallen hard and are now below their 10-year average. Same for the Los Angeles market which I use to show the bubble effect.



While home prices are still heading south, I see no reason to rush into buying a house.
Why not wait for the dust to settle and home prices to stabilize?