The Case-Shiller Index Says Home Values Rose… 2 Months Ago

Another week, another report of rising home values.

Case-Shiller Shows 1% Home Price Gain

Standard & Poors released its May 2011 Case-Shiller Index this week. The index measures change in home prices from month-to-month, and year-to-year, in select U.S. cities.

May’s Case-Shiller Index showed a 1 percent increase from April 2011.

Home values rose in 16 of the Case-Shiller Index’s 20 tracked markets. Only Detroit, Las Vegas and Tampa fell.

Phoenix, Arizona was flat.

“Flawed” Case-Shiller Findings? It’s Likely.

The Case-Shiller data is encouraging, but like all “home price” indices, it’s flawed. In 3 big ways.

The first Case-Shiller Index flaw is its limited geography.Despite being positioned as a national housing index, Case-Schiller Index is sourced from just 20 cities nationwide — and they’re not even the 20 largest.

Did you know: There are more than 3,100 U.S. municipalities.

The second Case-Shiller Index flaw is that its findings account for single-family, detached homes only. Condominiums, multi-family homes, and new construction are not included in the Case-Shiller Index.

In some markets — specifically Chicago — these excluded home types can outnumber the included ones.

And, lastly, the Case-Shiller Index is flawed in that it takes 60 days to release. The Case-Schiller Index reports on a housing market from 2 months ago. It’s data that’s mostly useless to buyers and sellers in today’s real estate market.

You don’t need “old data”. You need real-time.

Get Real-Time Mortgage Rates

You need real-time news with mortgage rates, too. Same as for home prices, yesterday’s news is “old”. You can buy a home at yesterday’s price and you can’t lock a loan at yesterday’s rates.

Click here for a real-time mortgage rate quote.

(Post adapted from Bring the Blog, a membership blog-writing service)