Evidence that the housing market is at or near bottom is strengthening. The housing market will remain exceptionally weak this year, although the freefall has ended.
—Celia Chen, Moody’s Economy.com

At this point, people are thinking the fall is over. The market is predicting the declines are over…My guess would be that home prices are going to level off — they’re not going to keep falling…At this rate, it’ll be down 12 percent and I suspect it will be down less than that because of the improvement that we’re seeing [by year-end] … [but] I am not optimistic that we’re going to see any sharp rebound.
—Robert Shiller

These numbers are really showing that there’s been a change in mood. For these numbers to go up in eight states, I was quite taken aback.
—Karl Case

—Case Shiller Declines 18.1%, YoY, less than the estimated 18.6% and less than last month’s 18.7%
—13 of 22 markets slowed their YoY decline, vs 10 of 22 last month
—21 of 22 markets slowed their MoM decline or grew, vs 11 of 22 last month
—8 of 22 markets showed MoM growth, vs 3 last month
—Phoenix and Las Vegas continue to lead the overall declines, with 54% and 52%, respectively
—Dallas and Cleveland showed MoM growth of 2% and 1%, respectively, though Cleveland’s CAGR from 2000 remains negative.

While one month’s data cannot determine if a turnaround has begun, it seems that some stabilization may be appearing in some of the regions.
—David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee

I’m very concerned about the rise in delinquent mortgages and foreclosure actions. [President Barack Obama’s plan to create] sustainable, payment- reducing modifications is a positive step that should show significant benefits in the coming months.
—John Dugan, Comptroller of the Currency said in a statement released with the quarterly report that showed delinquencies double on prime mortgages from 1.1% in March 2008 to 2.9% in March 2009. Delinquencies went from 250,986 in March 2008 to 661,914 in March 2009