LV on sideline as prices increase

NEW YORK -- Home prices rose in August for the third straight month, a rapid pace of recovery that surprised economists and raised questions about how long the trend can last.

But Las Vegas led the list of decliners with a 30 percent drop.

After a steep three-year descent, home prices rebounded this summer at an annualized pace of almost 7 percent, the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index showed Tuesday. Against a backdrop of rising unemployment and falling consumer confidence, the speed of the recovery stumped Robert Shiller, economist and co-creator of the index.

"It's a time of exceptional uncertainty," he said. "It doesn't seem like a time to see home prices booming, but that's what's happening."

He expects prices to continue to rise for the next few months, but can't forecast beyond that, explaining, "There's no way to be a statistician about this."

The Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities climbed 1 percent from July to a seasonally adjusted reading of 144.5. While prices were down 11.4 percent from August a year ago, the annual declines have slowed since February.

Rising home prices are a key ingredient to rebuilding the economy. Homeowners feel wealthier when their property appreciates in value and are more likely to spend money. Rising prices also help millions of homeowners who owe more to the bank than their homes are worth.

But home prices are not rising everywhere.

Prices in Las Vegas, Seattle and Charlotte, N.C., all fell to their lowest levels in August. Prices in Las Vegas slipped 30 percent and have plunged by 56 percent since peaking in April 2006, the largest peak-to-trough decline of all 20 cities.

Zach Pandl, an economist at Nomura Global Economics, expects prices to fall to the lows reached earlier this year before recovering in early 2010.

"We need to see flat to rising prices in the winter months," Pandl said. "That would be a very encouraging sign that prices have bottomed out."

September home sales figures back up the recovery. Home resales climbed more than 9 percent last month, the largest amount in more than 26 years, the National Association of Realtors said last week. Sales figures for newly built homes are due out today.