Home Prices Rebound

With Jane Clayson in for Tom Ashbrook.

Housing prices break out of their slump. We look at the rebound and what it means for the nation’s recovery.

Big new housing numbers out yesterday.  Home prices rising at the fastest rate in seven years – fastest in some of the markets hardest hit by the housing bust: Phoenix, San Francisco, Las Vegas

But much of the boost is driven by low inventory. And with credit still tight, home ownership is now at the lowest rate in nearly 18 years. So what does this all mean for the larger economy? For the average American who wants to buy a home? And will the tide keep rising, or could we even be headed for another bubble?

This hour, On Point:  decoding the housing market rebound.

Karl Case, professor emeritus of economics at Wellesley College. Co-creator of the Case-Schiller index, which tracks housing prices across the United States.

Christopher Mayer, professor of real estate and finance and economics at Columbia Business School.

Dave Tina, longtime Las Vegas realtor, president of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors.

The Wall Street Journal: Home Prices Score Highest Annual Gain Since 2006 -- "Sharp drops in the number of homes listed for sale and growing demand for home purchases sent U.S. home prices up by 9.3% in February from a year ago, the largest growth rate in nearly seven years, according to a report released Tuesday."

The New York Times:Today's Dream House May Not be Tomorrow's -- "Economic and demographic changes may severely impair the value of a home when it’s time to sell, a decade or more in the future. Will a particular home still be fashionable then? Will social and economic shifts tilt demand toward new designs and types of communities —even toward renting rather than an outright purchase? Any of these factors could affect home prices substantially."

MarketWatch: Despite recent gains, home prices sharply below peak in Las Vegas, Miami and Detroit — "Areas that were particularly hard hit by the housing market’s meltdown saw large annual price gains, but remained below bubble peaks. For example, Las Vegas saw  prices increase 17.6% over the 12 months through February. According to Tuesday’s report from S&P/Case-Shiller, home prices in Las Vegas in February remained 55% below a 2006 bubble peak."