(Save the date: RealShareNew York comes to the Grand Hyatt, New York,NY, October 9.)

NEW YORK CITY-The single-family home market is beginning to showsigns of improvement as inventory continues to drop, mortgage ratesremain low and affordability stay at an all-time high. The latestS&P/Case-Shiller indices for the month ofApril show that average home prices increased 1.3% for both the 10-and 20- composite – and while one month does not make a trend, thecombination of rising positive monthly index levels and improvingannual returns is a sign that the residential market isstabilizing.

“It’s very encouraging news that home prices are now beginningto show slight positive upticks from a year ago,” LawrenceYun, chief economist and senior vice president of researchat the National Association of Realtors, tellsGlobeSt.com, noting the recent months increases mean thatyear-over-year gains were overall positive. “Looking at thethree-month average of February, March and April, and since thattime, the inventory condition has tightened more, there are morebuyers in the market and based on the normal supply and demanddynamics, it would imply that the prices are firming up even moreat this moment in late June as we move into July.”