Hi everyone. It’s Case-Shiller day! The day when S&P release their housing index numbers for April. So…how are we doing?

Prices Stabilize, But Housing Trouble Still Looms [Forbes]

Home prices in 20 major cities tumbled an average of 18.1% in the last 12 months, off 33% from their 2006 peak, according to the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday. The 10-city index fell 18% from a year earlier, with a similar decline from the peak.

Home values are now at 2003 levels.

While April was the third month in a row in which the pace of decline slowed, just 0.9% from the month before, other data point toward more housing trouble ahead.

Hmm…not so good. How about locally?

A Look at Case-Shiller Numbers, by Metro Area [Wall Street Journal]

“It is important to understand that these indices are constructed using non-seasonally adjusted sales prices, and therefore when housing activity perks up seasonally in the spring and summer months, any effect on selling prices would not be adjusted out of these data,” said economist Joshua Shapiro at MFR, Inc. “In fact, in 2008, after dropping by an average of 2.4% per month in the first quarter, the composite 20 city index than registered average month-to-month declines of 0.9% during the prime spring and summer selling season before reaccelerating to post an average 2.2% monthly decline in the final four months of the year. We continue to believe that it is unlikely that we are near a bottom in nationwide home prices.”

Check out the New York Metro area, while most places seem to be starting to level off with the price drops, NY Metro is falling more rapidly.

Home Prices In 2014? Dead Flat From Here. [IndexUniverse.Com]

…based on the early trading in UMM and DMM, investors expect home prices in August 2014 to be almost exactly where they were in April 2009. To put a needle on it, they expect prices to fall 0.76%.

That’s not to say home prices will be flat in the interim. The S&P report shows that homes lost value in April at an astonishing 18% year-over-year clip. That’s not going to arrest itself overnight. Most likely, investors expect home prices will dip further before staging a recovery as we approach the 2014 deadline.

Umm….yeah. Am I really sure I want to buy a house?

Well, how are things in Babylon Village then? Five properties sold in April, a better haul than March to be sure, but still sub-par, I think. This month’s haul includes two condos, so only three single family homes sold in April.

17 Salt Meadow Rd

  • MLS# 2135232Zillow Page
  • Sold: $1,075,000 – 4/2/2009
  • Prior Sales: none
  • 3 bedrooms – 3.5 bath – Condo
  • Taxes: $14,840 – Village Taxes: $1,700

As usual, I don’t have much to say about high end properties. However, I think that if I had a million bucks to spend on a place to live in the Village, I could find something better than one of these condos.

198 Cadman Ave

  • MLS# 2108124Zillow Page
  • Sold: $355,000 – 4/13/2009
  • Prior Sales: none
  • 5(?) bedrooms – 2 baths – Colonial/Expanded Ranch
  • Taxes: $8,626 – Village Taxes: $647

We saw this house back in August of last year. Here is my original report. This is a bit of an odd house, but it’s not a bad deal for $355K. The original ask for this place was $429:, which was just nuts.

62 Little E Neck S

  • MLS# 2137667Zillow Page
  • Sold: $400,000 – 4/15/2009
  • Prior Sales: none
  • 3 bedrooms – 2.5 bath – Colonial
  • Taxes: $8,628 – Village Taxes: ?

Another good deal here, I think. This is a newish (1995), good-sized house south of Montauk, but in the W. Babylon school district. We didn’t see it, but the MLS pictures look pretty nice.

5 S Bay Dr

  • MLS# 2095109Zillow Page
  • Sold: $400,000 – 4/16/2009
  • Prior Sales: none
  • 3 bedrooms – 1.5 bath – Cape
  • Taxes: $5,901 – Village Taxes: $367

A tiny tiny house, but hey, $400K for a waterfront (well, canal-front) house. That’s pretty good.

75 Whalers Cove

  • MLS# 2147624Zillow Page
  • Sold: $250,000 – 4/17/2009
  • Prior Sales: none
  • 1 bedrooms – 1 bath – Condo
  • Taxes: $4,345 – Village Taxes: $400

Not sure what the point is of buying one of these one bedroom condos in Whalers Cove. At this point, you’re not building up any equity and you can rent a lot of one bedroom apartments for rent in Babylon.