Home Values Increase for the First Time in 5 Years!

Home values are at the bottom and finally bouncing back, according to a recent industry report.

In the United States, values of homes increase .2% to a median price of $149,300 during the 2^nd quarter of 2012.  This is the 1^st annual increase since 2007 according to Zillow.com.  Home pricing was also up 2.1% from the first quarter.

Although the month of June marked the 4^th month in a row of home value increases, home pricing is still down nearly 24% since the first of 2007.

It is clear that the home values have hit bottom in the majority of the Nation.  Despite the lower than expected job growth, the housing recovery is doing very well.

Most “experts” were predicting a housing recovery late in 2012 so the new statistics coming in are better than expected news.

Also, the S & P/Case-Shiller home price index (an alternate source of information) also reported that prices of homes in 20 major markets increased 1.3% in April—the 1^st monthly increase in 180 days.

Foreclosures remain the largest risk to the housing market recovery and the pace of foreclosure processing is expected to gain steam.  Most experts feel that the housing market will continue to recover yet at relatively marginal rate over the next year.

Home price increases will also cause some current homeowners which have been waiting for values to increase to place their homes on the market.  The additional inventory may cool the home price increase trend for some time.