Home Prices Decline, but at Slower Rate

A home price index released today found that the prices of U.S. single-family homes dropped in April from March. But the slower rate of decline was seen as a sign that the housing market could be on its way to recovery.

Nationwide, home prices in 20 metropolitan areas fell 18.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the Case-Shiller index produced by Standard & Poor's. Compared to the prior month, prices in April declined 0.6 percent, the smallest monthly drop in the index since June 2008.

"While one month's data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun, it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in some of the regions," David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. "We are entering the seasonally strong period in the housing market, so it will take some time to determine if a recovery is really here."

Blitzer said the rise of the stock market in March and greater consumer confidence helped account for the improvements in the housing market.

But the announcement comes on the same day as a report by a New York-based research group that says consumer confidence is declining, not rising. The Conference Board said that, after two consecutive months of gains, its index of consumer attitudes dropped to 49.3 from 54.8 in May.

Housing prices in the Washington area also fell. Compared with last year, prices dropped 16.9 percent; they were down 1.3 percent from the previous month. But the region fared better than Las Vegas and Phoenix, which had the worst year-over-year declines. The home prices in those areas fell 32.2 percent and 35.3 percent, respectively, compared with April 2008.