Housing Tracker's final report of asking prices in 54 metropolitan areas is in, and it shows that the YoY rate of declines continues to lessen, although at much less brisk a pace than the first half of this year. Asking prices were -4.4% less YoY in June, and -4.2% less YoY in July. Here's the updated chart:
| Month | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | --- | -7.5% | -11.5% | -5.8% | -8.7% |
| February | --- | -7.8% | -12.0% | -5.2% | -8.4% |
| March | --- | -8.3% | -10.9% | -5.0% | -7.3% |
| April | -2.7% | -8.6% | -9.6% | -5.0% | -6.8% |
| May | -3.5% | -9.1% | -8.1% | -5.0% | -5.6% |
| June | -5.0% | -9.8% | -7.0% | -5.0% | -4.4% |
| July | -5.4% | -10.4% | -6.1% | -5.1% | -4.2% |
| August | -6.0% | -10.6% | -5.5% | -6.1% | --- |
| September | -6.2% | -11.1% | -5.1% | -6.6% | --- |
| October | -6.7% | -11.4% | -4.5% | -7.0% | --- |
| November | -6.6% | -11.7% | -4.5% | -6.7% | --- |
| December | -7.2% | -11.4% | -5.6% | -7.8% | --- |
Additionally, Housing Tracker's updates continue to show that inventory is also declining.
Note that Housing Tracker is current through last week, vs. this morning's Case-Shiller report, which is an average of March, April, and May. Because of the distortions resulting from the existence and the distortions resulting from the $8000 tax credit that expired a year ago, it is interesting to compare 2011 YoY vs. 2009 as well as 2011 YoY vs. 2010. Here are the numbers - the first column is vs. 2010, the second vs. 2009:
February: -3.5% -2.7%
March : -3.9% -1.4%
April : -4.2% -0.6%
May : -4.5% 0%
In short, as the distortions abate in the YoY comparisons, I expect Case Shiller to join Housing Tracker (which is current through last week) in reporting "less worse" declines.
