Zillow's view of the housing market

From Stan Humphries, Zillow's Chief Economist:

Homes values fell 0.38% nationally from March to April and were down 4.1% from their levels in April 2009 ...

Home values declined month-over-month in 87 (70%) of the 124 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) tracked by Zillow this month, and year-over-year declines (defined as a decline of more than 1%) in home values were recorded in 96 (77%) of the 124 metros. Foreclosure activity continued to increase nationally with 0.11% of homes in the U.S. being foreclosed in April. ...

We expect to see pending home sales dry up significantly in the May pending home sales report from the National Association of Realtors. Existing home sales will continue to stay robust through the end of June, when contracts that were signed by the end of April must close in order for buyers to receive the tax credits. Expect them to fall off precipitously thereafter as we pay back the demand we’ve pulled into these months.