By Laura Kusisto | The Wall Street Journal
Recent indicators released about the strength of the housing market have been all over the map. In some cases, quite literally.
Most cities east of the Mississippi River—from Chicago to Miami—saw home prices drop between June and July, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Meanwhile, most metropolitan areas west of that dividing line, from Portland to Las Vegas, saw home prices rise over the month.
Geographic divides help explain the unevenness in the housing market’s performance in recent months. Prices have continued rising, even as the pace of existing-homes sales tumbled in August. New-home sales hit their highest level since early 2008 in August, but forward-looking indicators of the strength of the housing market have also been weak.
