Home prices were up in April, a first in 8 months which saw real estate prices continuously decrease, based on a poll.

Home prices increased by 0.7% from March based on S&P/Case Shiller 20-city index.  However, when adjusted for the spring selling season which is relatively strong, the prices drop 0.1%. This is in contrast to 4% year-over-year.

“In a welcome shift from recent months, this month is better than last — April’s numbers beat March,” stated David Blitzer, spokesman for S&P. “However, the seasonally adjusted numbers show that much of the improvement reflects the beginning of the spring-summer home buying season.”

“It is much too early to tell if this is a turning point or simply due to some warmer weather,” Blitzer further contended.

However small, any positive news for the problematic real estate industry is happily welcomed.  Some market indicators point that the situation now is not as dreadful as other data might show.  For instance, foreclosures have been decreasing.

This has resulted to a decrease in sales of distressed properties by 16% this year; while the sales for non-distressed real estate increased by 11%, this according to Deutsche Bank chief economist, Joseph LaVorgna.

Ben Bernanke, chairman of Federal Reserve, stated in a recent press conference that this is positive news since the decrease in prices for the past year was in large extent due to very big discounts on foreclosure prices.  Prices for regular homes have fared so much better.