Home Prices, Foreclosure | featured news

Home prices kept rising in July across the United States, buoyed by greater sales and fewer foreclosures. National home prices increased 1.2 percent in July, compared to the same month last year, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller index released Tuesday. That's the second straight year-over-year gain after two years without one.

New data show price declines easing in big cities, sales of new homes improving nationally and foreclosures in California dropping to levels not seen since 2007. The housing market's long, cold winter may finally be heading into a springtime thaw.

The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, but a possible new wave of foreclosures could threaten the recovery, according a Reuters poll of economists.

A backlog of foreclosures and falling sales indicate prices may decline further, discouraging builders from taking on new projects.

Home prices have reached their lowest points since the housing bubble burst in 2006, driven down by foreclosures, a glut of unsold homes and the reluctance or inability of many to buy.

U.S. single-family home prices fell for a fourth straight month in October pressured by a supply glut, home foreclosures and high unemployment, data from a closely watched survey showed on Tuesday.

Prices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, which had been increasing, both fell in August from July. Home prices are falling faster in the nation's largest cities, and a record number of foreclosures are expected to push prices down further through next year.

Foreclosures rose in 3 of every four large U.S. metro areas in this year's first half, likely ruling out sustained home price gains until 2013, real estate data company RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Prices of existing U.S. single-family homes dropped a record 12.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to the lowest level since 2003, the National Association of Realtors said on Thursday.