Home prices in metro Atlanta were up in August for the fifth straight month, according to a report released Tuesday. But the data made clear the sluggish local real estate market is still mired in one of the nation’s worst real estate slumps.
Despite the improvement in the last five months, prices in August were down 6.1 percent compared to a year ago, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Price Index report. Atlanta was one of only three major cities to post negative annual returns.
The report also showed that Atlanta was one of only three major metro areas where home prices remain stuck below their January 2000 levels. The others were Detroit and Las Vegas, hard-hit cities both struggling with high unemployment rates.
Still, Standard & Poor’s analysts found hope in the data. The five straight months of gains could be a sign that Atlanta is rebounding from its housing bubble, which inflated the city’s real estate prices during last decade’s boom before bursting during the downturn.
The recent uptick comes after nine consecutive months of double-digit declines posted in the city from October 2011 through June 2012.
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