Home Prices Rose a Third Month in April

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller composite index of home prices in 20 metro areas climbed 0.7 percent in April from the previous month on a seasonally adjusted basis, topping economists’ consensus projections for a 0.4 percent improvement. The monthly gain made for the longest streak of consecutive increases since the federal homebuyer tax credit from mid-2009 into the first quarter of 2010 bolstered prices. Still, analysts and housing professionals lament that the nation’s residential real estate market has a long way to go before a complete recovery can be declared as it still faces a sizable pipeline of foreclosures, tight credit restrictions and weak demand. | Read More