From an article by Lynn Adler published by the Globe and Mail Sept 29, 2009

For Canadians contemplating buying that “place in the sun” now might be the time. US home prices have started to climb for the third month in a row in July more proof a fragile US housing recover is under way.  The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index of 20 major cities rose 1.2 per cent from June to a reading of 143.05. Though home prices are still 13.3 per cent below July a year ago, the annual declines have slowed in all 20 cities for the sixth straight month.  For sun cities such as Phoenix, Dan Diego, Miami and Tampa, prices showed a small month to month (June to July)  increase.  Prices in Las Vegas continued to decline by an insignificant amount.

“We expected another gain but this is remarkable,” wrote Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. Economist for High-Frequency Economics. He noted the index has risen at an 8 per cent annualized rate in the three months to July, the best performance since early 2006.

The index, however, is down about 33 per cent from the peak in mid-2006. Home prices are now at levels not seen since the third quarter of 2003. And, as noted, prices in Las Vegas as well as Detroit and Seattle are still falling, on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Prices in Las Vegas, one of the most speculative markets during the boom, are down more almost 55 per cent from their peak. In August, almost 80 per cent of home re-sales in Nevada were either a foreclosure or a sale below the value of the mortgage, according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors.

Foreclosures now are being driven by job losses, which are also weighing on the minds of consumers. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dipped unexpectedly this month to 53.1 after three months of gains, down from the revised 54.5 reading in August. Nevertheless, there are clear positive trends in the housing markets. Home prices rose in 13 metro areas for at least three straight months.

The Case-Shiller indexes measure home price increases and decreases relative to prices in January 2000. The base reading is 100; so a reading of 150 would mean that home prices increased 50 per cent since the beginning of the index.