Shiller: House Price Rise Not Sign of Turning Corner

House prices rose 1.4% in June following a 0.5% increase in May as the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city house price index registered its first consecutive monthly increase in nearly three years. However, Yale University professor Robert Shiller cautioned that it may not be a turning point due to high unemployment and the large inventories of foreclosed homes weighing on the market. Despite the upward momentum in house prices, "I would express great reluctance in forecasting where we are going from here, because we have conflicting signals right now," Mr. Shiller said. The June HPI shows that house prices are down 15.4% from a year ago and down 30.2% from their peak in the second quarter of 2006. However, only 2 cities, Detroit and Las Vegas, in the 20-city HPI experienced price declines from May to June. "For the second month in a row, we're seeing some positive signs," said David Blitzer, chairman of S&P's index committee.