Overall, the latest Case-Schiller monthly home-price report, which covers March, showed declines, but analysts pointed to instances in the data that showed some reports were better rather than worse than the previous month.
There also was some encouragement because the rate of decline in home prices appeared to be leveling out.
The Case-Schiller Index reports on national, 10-city and 20-city composites, and all were down. However, even though five cities – Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, New York and Portland – saw average home prices hit new lows, there were nine cities in that position the month before.
Also, seven cities in the 20-city index had falling prices. In February, there were 16.
"Only three cities – Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit – saw annual rates of change worsen in March. The other 17 cities and both composites saw improvement in this statistic, even though most are still showing a negative trend," said David M. Blitzer, who chairs Standard & Poor's Index Committee.
"Moreover, there are now seven cities – Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis and Phoenix – where the annual rates of change are positive."
