Denver was among nine metropolitan areas in a 20-city survey released Tuesday that saw home prices increase in January compared with the same month a year ago.
Denver-area home prices rose 2.6 percent in January compared with January 2009, the sixth-largest increase among the cities, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home-price index.
The 20-city composite dipped 0.7 percent compared with January 2009 and rose 0.3 percent compared with December.
“We’ve pretty much stabilized,” said economist Jeff Thredgold of Vectra Bank Colorado. “Prices are reasonably flat from a year ago. It’s good to see home prices stabilizing, but it doesn’t suggest that we’re going to start seeing 5 to 10 percent gains a year like we did 10 years ago.”
Fewer cities saw month-to-month gains from December to January, with Denver prices dropping 1.3 percent.
Many industry experts are concerned that another wave of foreclosures will hurt housing prices.
“You’ve got to stop the bleeding before you can get out of bed and start running again,” Thredgold said.
Concern over a potential new wave of foreclosures also remains high despite new efforts by the Obama administration to keep struggling borrowers in their homes.
“Going forward, forces that will bring home prices back down are mounting,” said Patrick Newport, an economist for IHS Global Insight. “Our view is that despite this report, prices have further to fall — about another 5 percent.”
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
Margaret Jackson: 303-954-1473 or mjackson@denverpost.com
