The real estate market continues to show more signs of a turnaround, as average home prices bounced back in July to the same level they were in nine years ago.
According to CNN, the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, home prices rose by 1.6 percent in July, compared to the previous month. The S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index covers more than 80 percent of the housing market in the United States.
This marked the third month in a row that prices in all 20 major housing markets followed by the index improved and would have been the fourth straight month, if not for a slight decline in the Detroit market in April.
The index increased by 1.2 percent compared to a year earlier, an improvement from the year-over-year change reported in June. Although home prices have been fairly shining in recent months, it wasn't until June that prices began increasing.
Readings in July met levels last seen in summer of 2003, when the market was heading towards its peak in 2006. The downfall of the market in 2008 led to the markets financial crisis its currently facing.
Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, David Blitzer, told CNN that the news on home prices in this report confirms recent good news about housing.
"Single-family housing starts are well ahead of last year's pace, existing home sales are up, the inventory of homes for sale is down and foreclosure activity is slowing," Blitzer said.
Tighter supplies of homes and record low mortgage rates available for sale have contributed to the lifting of home prices. Another contribution is lower unemployment rates, although job growth in recent months has been slowing down.
