Home prices started the year on an upswing. According to the Federal Home Finance Agency's Home Price Index, home prices rose by a seasonally-adjusted 0.3 percent between January and February 2012. The index is up 0.4% over the past year, offering a counter-story to the Case-Shiller Index's assertion that home values are sinking. Last week, Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Index said home values had dropped more than 3 percent in the prior 12 months. As a home buyer or seller in … [Read more...]