Two-Year House Price Depreciation Ends

U.S. house prices edged up 0.2 percent between the second and third quarter, ending a two-year skid, according to the latest quarterly housing valuation analysis by IHS Global Insight. California led the nation with a 2.1 percent home price increase during the quarter. Of the 330 metro areas analyzed in the House Prices in America study, 169 showed price increases during the quarter while 161 posted declines. By comparison, 317 metro areas had price declines in the fourth quarter of 2008.

In annual terms, house prices nationwide edged up slightly by 0.9 percent during the third quarter. This marks the first increase since the second quarter of 2007 when the housing market began to decline. From their peak in 2007, U.S. housing prices have fallen an average of 10.7 percent.

The study also finds that the nation as a whole is slightly undervalued. None of the markets included in the study were found to be extremely overvalued in the third quarter, compared to 2005 when 52 markets fit that description. However, most of the markets that are somewhat overvalued are located in the Pacific Northwest. Mon,