NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — In another sign of a turnaround in the long-battered real estate market, average home prices rebounded in July to the same level as they were nine years ago.

According to the closely watched S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, which covers more than 80% of the housing market in the United States, the typical home price in July rose 1.6% compared to the previous month.

It marked the third straight month that prices in all 20 major markets followed by the index improved, and it would have been the fourth straight month of improvement across the full spectrum if not for a slight decline in Detroit in April.

The index was up 1.2% compared to a year earlier, an improvement from the year-over-year change reported for June. While home prices have been showing a sequential change in recent months, it wasn’t until June that prices were higher than a year earlier.

The July reading matched levels last seen in summer 2003, when the market was marching toward its peak in 2006. The collapse of the market after that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

“The news on home prices in this report confirm recent good news about housing,” said David Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Single-family housing starts are well ahead of last year’s pace, existing home sales are up, the inventory of homes for sale is down and foreclosure activity is slowing.”

Record low mortgage rates and a tighter supply of homes available for sale have helped to lift home prices. Lower unemployment also has helped with home prices, although job growth in recent months has been slower than hoped.

Earlier this month, the Federal Reserve announced it would buy $40 billion in mortgage bonds a month for the foreseeable future. This third round of asset purchases by the central bank, popularly known as QE3, is its effort to jump start the economy through even lower home loan rates.

Related: Best home deals in Best Places

Mike Larson, real estate analyst with Weiss Research, said part of the improvement in the housing market is due to investors using the low mortgage rates to buy up homes that are in foreclosure and renting them in a strong rental market.

But he said that he doesn’t think there’s much chance of housing prices forming any kind of new bubble in the foreseeable future.

Home prices in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in July from a year earlier, adding to signs that housing will spur economic growth.

Enlarge image

Home Prices in U.S. Rose More Than Forecast in Year to July

Ty Wright/Bloomberg

The 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller index accelerated after showing a 0.6 percent advance in the year ended June.

The 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller index accelerated after showing a 0.6 percent advance in the year ended June. Photographer: Ty Wright/Bloomberg

51:22

Sept. 13 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke speaks about the central bank’s asset purchases and the U.S. economy. He speaks at a news conference in Washington after a meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. (Source: Bloomberg)

0:51

Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) — Home prices in the U.S. climbed more than forecast in July from a year earlier, adding to signs that housing will spur economic growth. Bloomberg’s Dominic Chu reports on Bloomberg Television’s “In The Loop.” (Source: Bloomberg)

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The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 1.2 percent from July 2011, the biggest 12-month advance since August 2010, a report from the group showed today in New York. The median forecast of 23 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 1.1 percent gain.

The lowest mortgage rates on record are attracting buyers, helping absorb the supply of distressed properties that had depressed values. A stabilization in residential real estate may also be contributing to recent gains in consumer confidence that, combined with improving household wealth, will lead to a pickup in spending, the biggest part of the economy.

“We’re finally seeing a more sustained and broad-based improvement in home prices,” said Millan Mulraine, senior U.S. strategist for TD Securities in New York, who correctly projected the year-over-year increase. “The housing sector has made an important turn here, and that is being sustained.”

Stock-index futures held earlier gains after the report. The contract on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index maturing in December rose 0.3 percent to 1,455 at 9:28 a.m. in New York.

Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 0.3 percent to 2.51 percent. The Case-Shiller index is based on a three-month average, which means the July data were influenced by transactions in May and June.

Gains Accelerate

The 20-city index accelerated after showing a 0.6 percent advance in the year ended June. Year-over-year records began in 2001.

Home prices adjusted for seasonal variations increased 0.4 percent in July from the prior month. Unadjusted prices climbed 1.6 percent from the previous month as all 20 cities showed gains for a third consecutive month.

“All in all, we are more optimistic about housing,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. “Stronger housing numbers are a positive factor for other measures including consumer confidence.”

The year-over-year gauge provides better indications of trends in prices, the group has said. The panel includes Karl Case and Robert Shiller, the economists who created the index.

Sixteen of the 20 cities in the index showed a year-over- year gain, led by a 17 percent increase in Phoenix.

Biggest Drop

Atlanta showed the biggest year-over-year drop, with prices falling 9.9 percent.

The increase in activity among buyers is lifting homebuilders such as Los Angeles-based KB Home (KBH), which reported third-quarter revenue increased 16 percent over the same period last year.

“The housing market recovery is accelerating as inventory continues to decline and prices are now rising,” Jeffrey Mezger, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said on a Sept. 21 earnings call.

Recent reports also show a surge in demand. New-home construction climbed last month, boosted by the strongest pace of single-family starts in more than two years, the Commerce Department reported last week. Purchases of previously-owned homes rose more than forecast in August to a two-year high, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed.

The Commerce Department is scheduled to release data on sales of new homes tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Washington.

Fed Action

More progress in reducing unemployment, which the Federal Reserve targeted in its announcement for additional accommodation measures, may be needed to further boost the industry that helped trigger the recession.

Fed policy makers committed to purchasing $40 billion of mortgage debt a month to lower borrowing costs in order to revive a housing market that Chairman Ben S. Bernanke called “one of the missing pistons in the engine.”

“Our mortgage-backed securities purchases ought to drive down mortgage rates and put downward pressure on mortgage rates and create more demand for homes and more refinancing,” Bernanke said in a Sept. 13 press conference after the central bank announced the debt-buying plans.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage fell to 3.49 percent in the week ended Sept. 20, matching a record low in data going back to 1972, according to figures from Freddie Mac.

Foreclosures could still be a headwind for homebuilders even as such transactions are slowing. Distressed sales accounted for 22 percent of existing-home purchases in August, the lowest since at least October 2008 when record-keeping began, the Realtors data showed. Such sales are comprised of foreclosures and short sales, in which the lender agrees to a transaction for less than the balance of the mortgage.

WASHINGTON — Home prices in the nation’s largest cities rose 1.6% in July to their highest level in nearly two years, according to a leading index released Tuesday, adding to recent data showing the housing market finally has begun its rebound from the deep recession.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of prices in the 20 biggest U.S. cities rose for the fourth straight month. And in a sign the rebound is broad-based, it was the third consecutive month that prices rose in all 20 cities from the previous month.

Prices in those cities also were up compared to a year earlier, with the 1.2% increase coming in above analyst expectations of 1.1%. Sixteen of the the 20 cities posted year-over-year increases in July. 

Overall, prices in the 20 largest cities in July were still down about 30% from their peak in mid 2006, before the housing market crashed. But prices were up about 8% from their lows in early 2012 and the Case-Shiller index reached its highest point since October 2010.

“The news on home prices in this report confirms recent good news about housing,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “All in all, we are more optimistic about housing. Upbeat trends continue.”

Tuesday’s data come on the heels of increases in starts of new single family home construction, existing home sales and a slowdown in foreclosures.

Atlanta had one of the biggest increases in July compared to June, with prices up 2.6%. The city’s real estate market had been struggling, and prices were still down 9.9% year-over-year.

Home prices in Los Angeles were up 1.3% in July from June, and just 0.4% year-over-year. The biggest improvement from a year ago was in Phoenix, where prices were up 16.6%.

Mortgage delinquency rates and foreclosure pre-sale inventory levels fell in August, suggesting a gradual move away from a market rife with troubled home loans, according to data released by Lender Processing Services.

The month of August brought a 10.6% dip in the nation’s mortgage delinquency rate when comparing the 31-day period to year ago levels, LPS said Monday.

It’s a continuing trend. Last month, LPS said said mortgage delinquencies were down 30% from the peak established in January 2010.

LPS uses data from 70% of the nation’s mortgages, available through the firm’s own loan-level databases.

By August, the nation had a 6.87% delinquency rate, a drop from 2011 levels and a 2.3% decline from a month earlier.

The total U.S. foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate also fell 2% from 2011, hitting 4.04% in August.

The number of properties with loans 30 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure, reached 3.42 million, while the number of loans 90-plus days past due but not in foreclosure hit 1.52 million.

States with the most non-current loans included Florida, Mississippi, New Jersey, Nevada and New York. Those with the lowest percentage of non-current loans included Montana, Alaska, South Dakota, Wyoming and North Dakota.

The total number of mortgages in the foreclosure inventory hit 2 million.

Banks trimmed 1.2 million troubled mortgages or foreclosed homes out of the massive shadow inventory hanging over the housing market in the first half of 2012, according to JPMorgan Chase ($41.23 0%) research.

The progress could double by the end of the year, though more than 4 million loans and properties would remain. Still, that would be down from a peak of 6 million in 2010.

The nearly 335,000 short sales completed in the first half neared the 420,000 modifications done. Another 470,000 in REO sold as well.

The $25 billion foreclosure settlement with the five largest mortgage servicers in March resulted in many more short sales than modifications.

Chase analysts expect the AG settlement could result in 100,000 principal reduction mods for an average of $100,000 reduced for each borrower. Servicers would have to rally in the back half of 2012 to get there. A total of just 7,000 were completed through June, but banks said they began ramping up offers over the last two months.

By the end of the year, servicers could sell more than 950,000 foreclosed homes and another 670,000 properties through short sale. Analysts expect 800,000 modifications total for 2012.

Estimates on the shadow inventory vary based on how delinquent a loan must be before researchers add it to the pile. Chase estimates include loans that have gone at least 60 days without a payment. Still, the consensus is that banks are making progress and with it, house prices will also improve.

This could then help solve the other major drag on housing: the amount of borrowers stuck making payments on a loan they owe more on than their house is worth.

Should prices increase another 10%, the 10.8 million underwater borrowers could drop to 9 million, Chase estimates.

“Although re-defaults and new delinquencies will continue to keep shadow inventory elevated, the rapid decline should prevent downward pressure on home prices going into 2013,” analysts said. “Combined with better existing home sales, investors have reason to be optimistic about running recovery scenarios.”

October 5, 2010 was an exciting day for the U.S. renewable energy industry. The Obama administration announced that in Spring 2011, it planned to install solar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of the White House residence.

“This project reflects President Obama’s strong commitment to U.S. leadership in solar energy and the jobs it will create here at home,” Energy Secretary Chu said in a paper statement. “Deploying solar energy technologies across the country will help America lead the global economy for years to come.”

Hooray! Optimism! A step in the right direction. “If it has anything like the effect of the White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and around the world,” wrote environmental activist Bill McKibben at the time.

When Spring 2011 came and went without anything new hitting the roof of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, supporters previously enthusiastic started to feel the air coming out of the balloons.

“It didn’t occur to us that they might not actually keep their promise,” McKibben said. “The date was nine months in the future, and nine months is a long time. It’s long enough to have a baby, and it’s long enough to put up a solar panel.”

The White House blamed the delay on a “competitive procurement process” to source bids – an amusing amount of red tape considering the “Globama” campaign was offering the Administration a completely-free array valued at over $107,000.

Even High Schoolers started calling out the President – with one 9th grader in late October 2011 starting a petition reminding officials about their promise. Somewhere, he’s lost all hope in government.

As we come ’round to the 2nd year anniversary of Secretary Chu’s hollow promise, ABC News decided to raise the issue once more and ask officials what the hell is going on.

Their hilarious answer? “They are in the procurement phase.” In other words, don’t expect these to go on anytime before the election. And if Obama should lose, you can bet the project will truly go up in smoke – especially considering Romney’s tenuous support of the renewable energy industry.

In the meantime, the Put Solar On It campaign should take the green checkmark away from President Obama and reignite efforts to speed up the “procurement process.” I’m sure there are more than a few solar providers out there that would bend over backwards for the opportunity.

The REALTORS® Confidence Index (RCI) is an indicator of housing market strength based on a monthly survey sent to over 50,000 real estate practitioners.   Respondents indicate whether conditions are, or are expected to be “strong” (100 points), “moderate” (50 points), and “weak” (0 points). A score of 50 for the index is the threshold between “strong” and  “weak” conditions. The REALTORS® Confidence Indexes reflect current market conditions and expectations for the next six months for single family, townhouse, and condo markets.

The RCI indexes rose across all markets in August.

New homes should carry a premium because everything is new: carpets, appliances, paint, etc. Moreover, the new home tends to be larger. However, new homes may not necessarily be built in the best of neighborhoods simply because all the good land has already been taken. The price data still says that a typical new home is worth more than a typical existing home.

But note the big divergence above that occurred during the crash years. Because material costs and labor costs keep rising, a certain minimum price is required on a newly constructed home, otherwise builders will simply not produce. This minimum price on a typical new home was $220,000 or so. So when existing home values dramatically fell, a gap between new and existing home prices opened up. Even with recent gains in existing home values, the gap still persists. In addition, many economists expect higher commodity prices ahead in light of additional Quantitative Easing by the Fed. Therefore, if anything, new home prices have no choice but to move up further in order to cover those rising construction-material costs. The outlook for existing home prices are then very positive, particularly in those local markets where the gap between new and existing home prices remain very wide.

Buying or selling a home involves a lot of emotional and subjective decisions. Before these transactions even take place, real estate professionals need to work with these decisions and get creative to even get in front of these buyers and sellers in the first place.

Without a doubt, real estate video marketing is one of the best ways to appeal to the emotional, subjective factors that come with just about every transaction. Just like any other form of marketing though, poor video marketing methods can turn off a buyer or seller just as quickly as it reels them in.

In this article, we are going to provide some useful tips on how to make a viral real estate video that can attract more buyers and sellers for your business.

What is a Viral Real Estate Video?

Viral videos are not just amateur videos of cats doing funny things or parodies of pop songs. Actually, some of the best viral videos have been professionally produced by companies in an effort to reach their audience in a different way.

In the case of real estate…

A viral video is one that creatively promotes a property, real estate company and/or Realtor by using content that draws attention and encourages viewers to want to share it with others.

You won’t find many better examples that epitomize the definition of a viral estate video than the example provided below. This is a video created by Josh Altman, a luxury real estate specialist of Hilton & Hyland, that was meant to raise money for a charity. Not only did it do that, but it quickly became viral with over 1 million views (and counting).

What Makes a Real Estate Video Go Viral?

So what did Josh accomplish in his video above that made it so viral?

Viral videos, especially in what can sometimes be a very conservative industry, need to be made up of one, or most, of the following characteristics to achieve the reach that Josh’s video has thus far.

For real estate videos to go viral they should be….

• Funny. One of the easiest ways to get a video to go viral is to make it funny. The tricky part though is figuring out what funny is to your target audience. There’s nothing worse than a video that tries to be funny, but is either tasteless or way off the mark so make sure you know your audience well.
• Creative. The best way to tell if you have something creative is when someone else sees it and says “Ah, I wish I thought of that!” Creativity is respected in just about every social circle and can do a fantastic job at getting viewers more interested in you.
• Short. If you go through some of the most viral videos on YouTube you will notice that most of them are less than 5 minutes long. Viral videos spread quickly due in large part to the fact that most of them are easy to digest and watch multiple times.
• Provocative. Whether some want to accept it or not, sex sells. And even though the real estate industry tries to maintain a conservative persona, the fact is that sex is used to sell real estate all the time – because it works.
• Memorable. You know you’re video has gone viral when people start referring to it by name. There’s no better current example of this than “Gangnam Style” by Psy (a Korean Pop Star). With over 240 million views and 2.4 million likes this catchy, memorable music video has already become one of the most viral videos of all time.

Top Tips to Help Your Video Go Viral

Unless you’re lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time with your video camera, then you’re going to need to do some hard work to create a truly viral real estate video. Here are some of our top tips to help you get there:

• Craft your video around your target audience by using the proper language, content and humor
• Upload your video to a social platform like YouTube or Vimeo so you, and your viewers, can easily share and interact with it
• Give it a descriptive, but memorable title – just as you would for a blog post you’d want people to share
• Keep your company branding and logos to just subtle references
• Don’t use annoying annotations, ads or captions
• Use a celebrity (actor, athlete, musician) in your video if possible
• Optimize it for increased organic search value to drive even more traffic to it
• Use social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn to get your video in front of people

Primarily, a viral real estate video is intended to take a topic and add another edge to it, to reveal an amusing and fun side to the company. People are more likely to share a video if it meets the characteristics outlined above and you carry out the tips listed here.

Here is another great example of a viral real estate video – one that happens to meet a lot of the characteristics and tips outlined above:

10 Viral Real Estate Video Ideas

The main challenge when creating a viral real estate video is coming up with the initial concept. This being the case, we thought we would get your creative juices flowing by providing you with a list of 10 ideas to start you off…

1. Produce a professional looking short movie of a luxury property
2. Parody a popular song or commercial
3. Record a prank that shows your company’s light side, but also displays its knowledge of a property or an area
4. Use an animated video to explain the history of a property or area
5. Get a video testimonial from a celebrity client
6. Start a web video series about your job (eg. “A Day in the Life of a Realtor”)
7. Make a montage of some of the most hideous properties you’ve ever been asked to list
8. Re-enact funny or memorable situations you’ve experienced as a Realtor
9. Provide a useful tour of a neighborhood that other websites would want (like travel sites, other Realtors, visitor centers, etc)
10. Create a provocative commercial that entices your clientele of young professionals to want to see a property or use your services

So, you want a new smartphone but do not want to sell of your firstborn to afford it. Well, you are in luck. The latest models come in a variety of sizes and prices. Depending on what you are looking for, likely there is a price that suits you. Yet it is not always simple to figure out. Here’s everything you need to know to find a smartphone that fits your budget.

Know Your Device, Know Your Price

Price is usually near the top of the list of considerations for smartphone buyers. The question is, what’s the right price for you?

People who want the latest and greatest tend to pre-order the hottest device on the day it becomes available, never mind the cost. More people are likely to want a proven device and are willing to wait a bit, even if that still means to paying top price. Many more are content with the mid-market: a new smartphone that is not so sophisticated or last year’s once-hot model. Some just want cheap and functional. 

See Also: The Myth Of The Perfect Device

A new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S costs $199 or more with a two-year contract. That is a fantastic price point, but not everybody is can shell out that much every time they buy a smartphone. If you want the latest and greatest, that is the starting price point. 

At the top of the range, price is tied to certain features. For instance, Apple sells the iPhone 5 at three price points, depending on storage capacity. A 16GB iPhone runs $199, 32GB $299, 64GB $399. Samsung has similar price points for storage options on its Galaxy S III. Features like 4G LTE, more battery life or Near Field Communications may raise the price. Some consumers will find these features well worth the extra expense.

If you do not care to hit the top of the market and want to pay less, last year’s models are often the best way to go. Every time Apple comes out with a new iPhone, the two previous versions go on sale. With the introduction of the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S now starts at $99 and the iPhone 4 is free with a two-year contract. Samsung, HTC, Motorola, Nokia and others do the same thing to their older devices when the newest iterations land on shelves. There are also new mid-level devices around the $99 price point, like the Droid Razr M and the Nokia Lumia 900 on AT&T. 

If you are looking for a low-cost device, the bottom of the smartphone market is filled with appealing Android devices. Most U.S. carriers offer basic Android phones for free if you sign up for a two-year contract. 

You can also go the prepaid route, but that costs a little more upfront. Companies like Cricket and U.S. Cellular offer iPhones at full price. With these plans, you pay more for the phone – Cricket sells the iPhone 4S for $499 – but you save money on your data plan and avoid being locked into a contract.

Galaxy S III Example of market pricing tiers

Prices with two-year contracts (as of Sept. 17, 2012)

AT&T

Top of the market

• Apple iPhone 5: $199.99+
• Samsung Galaxy S III: $199.99+

Mid market

• HTC One X: $99.99
• Nokia Lumia 900: $49.99
• Apple iPhone 4S: $99.99+

Low end

• BlackBerry Bold 9700: $0.01
• LG Nitro: $0.01
• Apple iPhone 4: $0.99

Nokia Lumia 920 Verizon

Top of the market

• Apple iPhone 5: $199.99+
• Samsung Galaxy S III: $199.99+

Mid market

• Motorola Droid Razr M: $99.99
• Samsung Galaxy Nexus: $99.99
• HTC Rezound: $79.99

Low end

• BackBerry Curve 3G 9310: $49.99
• Pantech Marauder: Free
• LG Enlighten: Free

Sprint

Top of the market

• Apple iPhone 5: $199.99+
• Samsung Galaxy S III: $199.99+
• HTC EVO 4G LTE: $199.99

Mid market

• Samsung Galaxy S II: $99.99
• Apple iPhone 4S: $149.99+

Low end

• Kyrocera Rise: Free
• ZTE Fury: Free
• Apple iPhone 4: $49.99