Report: South Florida Home Prices Rise in May

BY PAUL OWERS July 31, 2012 09:30 AM

South Florida home prices continue to gain momentum, according to a report released Tuesday. Prices in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties rose 1.4 percent in May from April and 3.4 percent from a year ago, figures from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index show.

It’s the fifth consecutive month that prices have increased annually in the three counties. Prices have risen on a monthly basis here since December. Besides South Florida, 11 other metro areas had year-over-year increases in the index that covers 20 major markets nationwide.

“The housing market seems to be stabilizing, but we are definitely in a wait-and-see mode for the next few months,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee, said in a statement.

Case-Shiller tracks prices of the same house over time. Analysts say that’s a better measure than releasing a median price for homes sold in a month, as local Realtor trade groups do. The index does not include condominiums and trails Realtor data by a month.

Real estate agents and analysts are optimistic that South Florida prices have hit bottom. Still, there is some concern that an increased number of foreclosures could stall the recovery.