Home prices get too cheap to ignore

Existing home prices rose for the first time in seven months in February, proving that homes in some regions have gotten too cheap to ignore.

In fact, as Bloomberg News notes, prices have fallen by the biggest amount in 40 years. Of course, that means that many people now live in homes with mortgages larger than their values. Supply far outstrips demand in many markets, and at least some experts don't believe that the market has hit bottom.

"It looks like this may be a temporary pause,'' Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight Inc., told Bloomberg, "The price declines have helped.''

"We're not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing," National Association of Realtors economist Lawrence Yun told The Wall Street Journal.

While the 2.9% gain over January's figures was better than what economists had expected, the figures were down 24% compared with the same period a year earlier. It will be a buyers' market for quite some time.

--Freelance writer Jonathan Berr edits the blog Ketchup and Eggs.