The US home prices are at their lowest level since April 2009 when they were at the last dip. Nineteen of the twenty markets in S&P Case-Shiller Index. There is only one market that is doing better and that on a year to year basis is the Washington DC market while Detroit did better for the month of February.
That the Washington DC market is doing better is not a huge surprise, given federal opportunities. However, the Detroit market had tanked at 30% lows ever since the decline of US auto since 2000. Now that GM is doing well there is news that GM,Ford and Chrysler will hire 36,000 by 2015, mostly in Michigan so the real estate market should do better.
Until there is definitive solidity in employment and income prospects, it is unlikely that we'll see improvement in the real estate values. Meanwhile affordable rentals will continue to be in demand as younger folks are unable to commit to mortgages and buy real estate.