Even with the prices of U.S. homes increasing recently, which shows a small market recovery in April – the first one in nearly seven months – analysts say it's too early to conclude that all housing troubles are over.
A survey by Standard and Poor’s/Case-Shiller showed that 19 of 20 cities surveyed had home sales increase, with the biggest gains from March to April happening in San Francisco and Washington. Detroit was the only city that showed negative growth.
Specifically, one month does not prove a trend – especially in the spring, which is traditionally a popular time for home sales – but when harder hit cities like Las Vegas and Phoenix show improvement, that is a good sign, said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at Standard and Poor’s.
Paul Diggle, an economist with Capital Economics, told the Washington Post that even with the unexpected increase in prices – analysts had expected only a slight increase of 0.3 percent – it's unlikely the pace will continue.
"After all, the tight supply conditions that have led to sharp price gains are unlikely to persist now that banks appear to be processing foreclosures and short-sales at a quicker pace," Diggle said.
For example, in the Washington area, some counties have been less hard than the rest of the nation, and home prices rose 3 percent in March and a little over 1 percent compared to April 2011.
Regardless of location, lenders should consider using loan management software as the housing market continues to fluctuate. In addition, investing in an amortization calculator can aid in creating repayment plans that suit different borrowers needs.