Home Prices Are Down

According to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home-price index, home prices in 16 out of the 19 cities tracked decreased in January 2012 compared to a month before in December 2011. The most dramatic declines, the local Jacksonville movers found out, were in Miami, Phoenix and Washington. The cities tracked represent a 34% decline since the housing bust and are now back to what they were around 2002. On the positive side, this past winter has been the best for home sales for the last five years. To add to the good news, eight cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Cleveland, Las Vegas, New York, Portland, Seattle and Tampa have all had year-over-year increases in home sales. And on the more good news front….The local Jacksonville moving specialists found out that between December and February, there were about 245,000 jobs added, improving the unemployment rate which dropped to 8.3%. That's the lowest unemployment rate we've had in three years. Some real estate experts are attributing foreclosures as the reason for lower price tags on houses. Stay tuned to the local Jacksonville movers’ blog for future news regarding home prices.