By Ian McKendry

WASHINGTON (MNI) – A prominent online marketplace for real estate
Tuesday said the U.S. housing market has bottomed and estimated that
many Americans will see the value of their homes rise over the next
year.

“After four months with rising home values and increasingly
positive forecast data, it seems clear that the country has hit a bottom
in home values,” Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries said in a
statement accompanying the release of the internet company’s report on
home values for the second quarter of 2012.

The Zillow Home Value Index, which uses public sources to calculate
home values of single-family, condominiums and cooperatives around the
country, said home values rose 2.1% from the first quarter and 0.2%
compared to the second quarter of last year, making it the first
increase year-over-year increase since 2007.

Zillow said nearly one third of metropolitan areas experienced
value increases year-over-year in the second quarter — led by Phoenix
where home values increased 12.1%.

Zillow also said it is forecasting that two out of five markets
covered by the company will experience increases in property values over
the next year, led again by Phoenix and followed by Miami.

“Of course, there is still some risk as we look down the
foreclosure pipeline and see foreclosure starts picking up,” Humphries
said, but added that he thinks a lot of those properties will be quickly
absorbed, especially in places currently experiencing inventory
shortages.

“The housing recovery is holding together despite
lower-than-expected job growth, indicating that it has some organic
strength of its own,” Humphries said.

Metro Area Zillow Home Zillow Home
Value Index Value Forecast

Q2’12 Qtr/Qtr Yr/Yr Proj. Chnge
Chnge Chnge Bottom Next
12-mos

United States $149,300 2.10% 0.20% | Q1 2012 1.10%
New York $336,900 0.80% -2.70% | Q1 2012 -0.70%
Los Angeles $383,200 0.20% -2.70% | Q2 2012 0.50%
Chicago $158,600 1.70% -5.80% | Q1 2012 -0.50%
Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas $123,900 1.40% 1.40% | Q4 2011 2.40%
Philadelphia $184,000 -0.60% -3.50% | Q4 2012 -0.70%
Washington DC $305,900 1.30% 1.10% | Q4 2011 2.00%
Miami-Fort Lauderdale, Fl $148,300 4.70% 6.40% | Q3 2011 6.10%
Atlanta $107,900 0.00% -4.90% | — -1.60%
Boston $307,600 1.00% -1.20% | Q4 2011 -0.70%
San Francisco $465,600 1.90% -0.40% | Q1 2012 1.90%
Detroit $74,000 1.20% 2.10% | Q3 2011 -1.30%
Riverside, Calif. $182,400 2.10% 0.10% | Q4 2011 5.60%
Phoenix $136,200 6.00% 12.10% | Q3 2011 9.90%
Seattle $255,400 2.30% -0.30% | Q1 2012 0.50%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Min $164,800 0.90% -2.00% | Q1 2012 0.30%
San Diego $342,500 1.70% -0.10% | Q1 2012 1.60%
Tampa, Fla. $107,500 2.30% 1.70% | Q4 2011 2.30%
St. Louis $121,600 -1.10% -4.00% | — -2.60%
Baltimore $213,000 0.30% -2.30% | — -2.20%
Denver $211,300 2.30% 3.50% | Q4 2011 1.60%
Pittsburgh $108,700 0.70% 3.30% | Q2 2009 1.90%
Portland, Ore. $212,800 2.70% 1.60% | Q1 2012 4.30%
Sacramento, Calif. $202,900 1.00% -2.10% | Q1 2012 2.50%
Orlando, Fla. $118,200 3.40% 1.30% | Q4 2011 2.80%
Cincinnati, Oh $122,300 2.20% -0.20% | Q1 2012 0.90%
Cleveland $108,400 0.60% -2.30% | Q1 2012 -0.50%
Las Vegas $114,800 2.50% -2.00% | Q1 2012 1.40%
San Jose $566,400 3.70% 3.40% | Q2 2009 3.40%
Columbus $122,500 -0.20% -2.00% | — -1.50%
Charlotte $131,700 -0.50% -0.90% | — -1

–Source: Zillow

** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **

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