Home prices in the US decline 1.6 percent in November compared to the same month one year ago according to the S&P/Case-Shiller index of new home values. An increase in home foreclosures adding to the inventory of properties is partly to blame for the decline but weak demand is still the primary reason that the housing sector continues to lag the greater economy.
“We’re having what I’d call a mini double-dip in home prices,” Michelle Meyer, senior U.S. economist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research in New York, said before the report. “Prices will remain pretty weak through the first half of the year. With excess supply on the market, it is still very much a buyers’ market.”
Source: Bloomberg