The latest report(.pdf) on home prices coming from the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index confirms what has been known for some time now – in the absence of government largess in the form of $8,000 tax credits, home values are again dropping, down 0.2 percent from June to July and, more recently, down 0.3 percent from July to August.
The two tax credit induced price increases are clear to see in the graphic above – first in late-2009 and then again over the summer. With another government giveaway seeming to be off the table at the moment, the recent trend looks like it will continue, perhaps accelerating over the winter as traditional sellers take their homes off the market and distressed sales (at lower prices) increase as a percent of total sales.
