US HOME prices edged higher for the second month in a row in March, suggesting prices are stabilising as the housing recovery gains momentum.
Consumer confidence cooled in May however to its lowest level in four months, separate data showed yesterday, as Americans turned gloomy about the job market and economic outlook.
The closely watched S&P/Case Shiller composite home price index of 20 metropolitan areas gained 0.1 per cent in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, although it fell shy of economists' forecasts for a gain of 0.2 per cent.
The housing market has been a thorn in the side of the broader economic recovery, but the sector has been gaining traction with new construction and sales rising in April.
Prices in the 20 cities fell 2.6 per cent from a year ago, an improvement from the 3.5 per cent yearly decline seen last month.
Seven of the 20 cities saw price increases from a year ago, including hard-hit Detroit and Phoenix. Still, it was too early to say housing prices had turned, despite the improvement in some regions, David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Indexes, said in a statement.
The major house price indexes ended the first quarter at new post-financial crisis lows, the report said. For the first quarter, prices were down 2 per cent, compared to a 3.9 per cent decline in the last three months of 2011. Financial markets saw little initial reaction to the data.
A report from industry group the Conference Board showed consumer confidence fell to its lowest level since the start of the year, making for the third month of declines. The index of consumer attitudes fell to 64.9 from a downwardly revised 68.7 the month before, short of expectations for a gain to 70.0.
Consumers' view of the labour market soured with 41.0 per cent saying jobs were hard to get, up from 38.1 per cent the month before, while 7.9 per cent said jobs were plentiful, down from 8.4 per cent.
The snapshot of the labour market comes ahead of the comprehensive government figures for May at the end of the week, which are expected to show the economy added 150,000 jobs this month. - (Reuters)
