Seattle Waterfront Homes: Case-Shiller: Home Prices Rise Over 3 Months, Analysts Discuss

Case-Shiller's widely-watched home price indices came through with their first positive pricing numbers this year, giving some hope that housing markets are stabilizing nationwide. The 0.7% increase in home prices from March to April is actually based on a 3 month rolling average, which may actually signal that prices have been rising for longer than the one month measurement:

In what Standard & Poor's analysts described as a "welcome shift from recent months," the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller index showed its strongest positive movement since June of last year with the release of Tuesday's report.

The 20-city composite reading posted a 0.7 percent increase in April versus March. The 10-city composite was up 0.8 percent. (Both figures reflect non-seasonally adjusted measurements, which S&P says is the more reliable indicator when evaluating its index results given current market conditions.)

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As of April 2011, S&P says average home prices across the United States are back to the levels where they were in the summer of 2003. From the peak of June/July 2006, home prices are down 32 percent.

There are at least some buyers out there taking advantage of such affordability, as evidenced in the latest Case-Shiller numbers, according to Sue Woodard, president of content and publishing at Mortgage Success Source, which provides client acquisition and retention solutions to the mortgage lending industry.

"This report underscores that smart homebuyers are seeing the 'perfect storm' of opportunity and getting ahead of the curve," Woodard said.

"There has not been a time in recent history where we've had such an amazing combination of affordable home prices, low home loan rates, and motivated sellers," she added.

But Woodard cautions that this "perfect storm" isn't expected to last. She says those on the fence about buying a home should make their move while this opportunity is still at hand.

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