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Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:03am EDT
(Reuters) – The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, but a possible new wave of foreclosures could threaten the recovery, according a Reuters poll of economists.
The median forecast of 24 economists polled by Reuters was for the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index to end the year unchanged. That was the same finding back in January for this house price gauge, which covers 20 cities.
“We are expecting a gradual improvement, but if we get a big wave of new foreclosures coming to the market, price declines could be even greater,” said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
https://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/12/us-usa-economy-housing-idUSBRE83B0U920120412