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A closely watched gauge of home prices fell in February for the 8th month in a row

Real-estate market continued to sink

S&P/Case-Shiller indexes fell 1.1% in February, not adjusted for seasonality.

Prices were down 2.6% from a year ago

20-city index was 3.3% below February 2010

Home prices are slightly above recession low hit in April 2009

With the price for new and occupied homes still burdened by foreclosures going for cut-rate prices and
a large stock of other unsold homes, many economists expect prices to continue falling, if at a slower
rate, through much of 2011.

Year-over-year prices were up in only one market: Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, 10 markets including
Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle hit their lowest point of the recession and post-recession period.

"There is very little, if any, good news about housing," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index
committee.

Housing has remained a weak point through the economic recovery, with prices continuing to decline
save for a brief uptick fueled by federal tax credits that have now expired. While economists don't
expect prices to increase anytime soon, many believe that with foreclosures slowly coming off the
market and the job market getting better, prices could be at or close to a bottom.

"It's a moderating pace of decline," said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at J.P. Morgan. "We're not
seeing intensified weakness here, but we're not turning toward rising prices either."

With no sign of a price rebound, many owners are getting rid of houses they had been hoping to hold
on to long enough for prices to recover, breaking a long standoff between hopeful buyers offering
lowball prices and stubborn homeowners trying to wait the market out.
 Dan Norton bought a home in Whitman, Mass., two years ago so that his children could attend the
town's schools, but he rented out his former residence rather than sell at a loss. He has spent $6,000 a
year to make mortgage payments that aren't covered by rental income. "If we kept it for 10 more years,
we'd be lucky to break even," says the 35-year-old sprinkler-installer.

Mr. Norton hopes to finalize a short sale, where the lender agrees to sell for less than the amount
owed. Despite the hit to his credit, he says the sale will "be a big weight off my shoulders." Anthony
Lamacchia, his real-estate agent, says several clients have made similar decisions to bite the bullet.
"Within 18 months, they're calling us back to sell it," he said.

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Separately, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 65.4 in April from 63.8 in
March. Consumers' short-term outlook improved after falling in March, suggesting that they have
grown less worried about the political and economic fallout from Mideast violence and the Japanese
Tsunami disaster, the Conference Board said.

The report also showed 41.8% of people think jobs are "hard to get" in April, down from 44.4% in
March. Some 5.2% of respondents think jobs are "plentiful," up from 4.6% last month.

_
Conor Dougherty at conor.dougherty@wsj.com and Nick Timiraos atnick.timiraos@wsj.com

 

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A closely watched gauge of home prices fell in February for the eighth month in a row, as the real-
estate market continued to sink toward a low hit during the recession.

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The S&P/Case-Shiller 10-city and 20-city indexes both fell 1.1% in February from a month earlier, not
adjusted for seasonality. Prices in the index following 10 major metropolitan areas were down 2.6%
from a year ago, while the 20-city index was 3.3% below the level recorded in February 2010.

Home prices are now only slightly above the recession low hit in April 2009. With the price for new and
occupied homes still burdened by foreclosures going for cut-rate prices and a large stock of other
unsold homes, many economists expect prices to continue falling, if at a slower rate, through much of
2011.

Year-over-year prices were up in only one market: Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, 10 markets including
Atlanta, Chicago and Seattle hit their lowest point of the recession and post-recession period.

"There is very little, if any, good news about housing," said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index
committee.

Housing has remained a weak point through the economic recovery, with prices continuing to decline
save for a brief uptick fueled by federal tax credits that have now expired. While economists don't
expect prices to increase anytime soon, many believe that with foreclosures slowly coming off the
market and the job market getting better, prices could be at or close to a bottom.

"It's a moderating pace of decline," said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at J.P. Morgan. "We're not
seeing intensified weakness here, but we're not turning toward rising prices either."

With no sign of a price rebound, many owners are getting rid of houses they had been hoping to hold
on to long enough for prices to recover, breaking a long standoff between hopeful buyers offering
lowball prices and stubborn homeowners trying to wait the market out.
 Dan Norton bought a home in Whitman, Mass., two years ago so that his children could attend the
town's schools, but he rented out his former residence rather than sell at a loss. He has spent $6,000 a
year to make mortgage payments that aren't covered by rental income. "If we kept it for 10 more years,
we'd be lucky to break even," says the 35-year-old sprinkler-installer.

Mr. Norton hopes to finalize a short sale, where the lender agrees to sell for less than the amount
owed. Despite the hit to his credit, he says the sale will "be a big weight off my shoulders." Anthony
Lamacchia, his real-estate agent, says several clients have made similar decisions to bite the bullet.
"Within 18 months, they're calling us back to sell it," he said.

r
r


 
Separately, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 65.4 in April from 63.8 in
March. Consumers' short-term outlook improved after falling in March, suggesting that they have
grown less worried about the political and economic fallout from Mideast violence and the Japanese
Tsunami disaster, the Conference Board said.

The report also showed 41.8% of people think jobs are "hard to get" in April, down from 44.4% in
March. Some 5.2% of respondents think jobs are "plentiful," up from 4.6% last month.

_
Conor Dougherty at conor.dougherty@wsj.com and Nick Timiraos atnick.timiraos@wsj.com