A look on the bright side of home values

By Jason Philyaw
• February 22, 2012 • 4:41pm

While many housing markets remain weak, some bright spots are popping up especially in areas where inventory is low in lower-priced segments, according to HomeValueForecast.

The majority of statistical areas across the country demonstrated positive real estate trends in February, despite weak markets in some larger areas, according to HomeValueForecast, a partnership between Pro Teck Valuation Services and Collateral Analytics.

Top markets in February include four in South Florida, a few around the Pennsylvania-Ohio border, and one each in Michigan, Utah and near the Arkansas-Missouri border, Pro Teck said.

"The top ranked metros in the month appear to fall into two categories," the company said. "First are a number in Florida, which had both price bubbles and crashes such that current prices are close to where they were 10 years ago, offering very compelling values. The second category are markets which never became overpriced in the first place, thus did not experience a significant decline in values in recent years."

Some of the worst-performing markets in February include three in Connecticut, two in and around Portland, Ore.; two more in Alabama; Spokane, Wash.; Jacksonville, N.C.; and one in Central Texas.

Pro Teck said these areas "have been going through price corrections to varying degrees ever since" the peaks in 2006 and 2007.

jphilyaw@housingwire.com

More In Real Estate

Overall, S&P believes the current pace of home price gains will not last for long; however, it’s too soon to call this a bubble. In fact, with home values still below their pre-recession peaks, it's expected home prices will continue to rise through the rest of 2013.

California home prices recently increased the most in 33 years as a result of strong sales growth in higher-priced markets and a continued housing supply shortage, the California Association of Realtors claims in a new report.