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Area prices dip in national index

But they’re up 5 percent in 2012 by local measures

By STEVE BROWN
Real Estate Editor stevebrown@dallasnews.com

Dallas-area home prices dipped by 1 percent from a year ago in the latest Case-Shiller index.

But home prices in the area are doing better, according to local measures.

Dallas was one of 15 major U.S. markets that saw year-over-year declines in February prices of pre-owned homes, according to the Standard & Poor’s/ Case-Shiller index released Tuesday morning.

Prices were down 3.5 percent from a year earlier across the 20 markets Case-Shiller tracks.

“February 2012 data confirm that, broadly speaking, home prices continued to decline in the early months of the year,” Standard & Poor’s David M. Blitzer said in the report.

Dallas-area prices have been falling for 20 months in the Case-Shiller study. Prices in the area are now down about10 percent from mid-2007.

Nationwide, prices are more than a third lower.

While Case-Shiller’s numbers show further declines in the Dallas area, local data from the real estate agents’ multiple listing service indicates that overall home sales prices are up 5 percent so far this year.

Median sales prices are up this year in more than half of North Texas neighborhoods.

David Brown, who heads the Dallas office of housing analyst Metrostudy Inc., said the Case-Shiller index is now a

lagging indicator.

“What is important to look at with these broad home price indexes is the trend,” Brown said. “The index for Dallas has reflected a much lower year-over-year decline since the second half of 2011; and more importantly, the month-to-month change is flat.

“It is my forecast the price indexes like the Case-Shiller Home Price Index will turn positive later this year,” Brown said. “Given the historical nature of this index, it will take six months before it fully reflects the sales that are occurring this spring.”

Case-Shiller’s index tracks over time the prices of specific single-family homes in each metropolitan area. The index survey does not include condominiums and townhouses. It only covers pre-owned properties — no new construction.

For February, the largest nationwide home price declines were in Atlanta, down 17.3 percent, and Las Vegas, down 8.5 percent.

Prices rose in February from a year earlier in Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis and Phoenix.