July's home prices inched up in San Diego for the fourth straight month, according to the Case Schiller Home Price Index.
But the prices are only inching up a tenth or two-tenths a month. The increases may be a sign that the market is stabilizing, but year-to-year comparisons show prices in San Diego are down nearly 6 percent between July 2011 and July 2010. The difference between June's price the the year before was smaller.
That's not the case nationally.
"If we look at the 20 city composite we now see it down 4.1 percent versus July of last year. In June they were down 4.4 percent. So that's a bit of an improvement," said Maureen Maitland, vice president at Standard and Poor's.
The upward pressure on prices may be linked more to seasonal pressures than a rebounding housing market, because home sales numbers declined in each of the four months that prices went up.
"San Diego is one of the markets where we're not seeing positive monthly increases interpret into a positive momentum versus a year ago," said Maitland.
The housing market could be scrapping along the bottom, she said, but it remains unclear whether this is a respite before the market rebounds - or slips lower.
