June Real Estate Prices Below Year Earlier Levels

U.S. home prices increased in the second quarter but fell compared with the same period last year, painting a mixed picture of the real estate market amid plummeting consumer confidence.  The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, released Tuesday, rose 3.6% for the quarter ended in June, but fell 5.9% annually, sending prices back to pre-boom 2003 levels.  Consumer confidence, meanwhile, sank to its lowest level in two years, according to the Conference Board, a private research group.  “The real concern is what’s going to happen in July and August,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist at real-estate firm Zillow Inc.  “Consumers have been getting a lot of bad data points about the economy and that is going to get translated into the housing market.”

Wall Street Journal  August 30, 2011