Radar Watching: March 2011

As I have noted in the past, since the home price index data provided by Radar Logic is more timely, unadjusted and un-smoothed it is particularly useful for gaining deeper visibility over our housing markets especially in light of the distortions created by the massive government tax gimmick and other malfeasance.

As for the latest trends, it’s important to note that the 25-MSA Composite is continuing to show significant year-over-year declines and after having broken below the low set in March of 2009 (double-dipping) earlier this year, now appears to have come off the low a bit as the typical early spring transactions begin to mount.

The latest data shows that as of early March, prices have declined 5.18% below the level seen in March 2010 while turning up a bit since the lows seen this February.

It will be interesting to see how far the spring buying can push prices but it's important to note that this seasonal factor will likely end in early July when transactions begin to trail off into the summer months.