House prices fell by only 0.6% from March to April, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city house price index, signaling that home values may be stabilizing.
From February to March, prices fell 2.2%. "We are entering the seasonally strong period in the housing period, so it will take some time to determine if a recovery is really here," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.
Overall, home prices are down 18.1% from April of last year. In 13 of the 20 metro areas, the annual rate of decline slowed from March to April. Eight metro areas experienced price increases in April, including Cleveland which saw values rise 1.2%. Dallas saw a 1.7% gain, and Denver 1.5%.
