Most US cities saw home price gains in the second quarter, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors.

From April to June, 100 out of the 155 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the United States had higher median single-family home prices as compared to the second quarter of 2009.

And 14 saw double-digit increases. Hooray.

But wait, it’s not necessarily a sign that we’ve hit bottom, just more a reflection of the kind of stuff that’s actually selling these days.

“The median price is influenced by the mix of homes that were sold and do not reflect pure appreciation or depreciation,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun, in a press release.

“The recorded home prices in many markets were significantly depressed last year because of a large percentage of distressed homes sold at discount. Now as more normal, non-distressed home sales are occurring, the median price in many areas is showing higher values.”

In other words, home prices haven’t really fallen as much as the media says they have, and haven’t really rebounded as much as they’ll eventually say they will.

The national median existing single-family price was $176,900 in the second quarter, a 1.5 percent from the $174,200 median seen a year earlier.

Distressed homes (foreclosures, short sales), which certainly weigh down the median, accounted for 32 percent of second quarter sales, down from 36 percent a year ago.

Existing-home sales, including single-family and condo, increased 9.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.61 million units in the second quarter, up from 5.14 million in the first quarter and 4.78 million a year ago.

Unfortunately that gain was probably mostly due to the homebuyer tax credit, which has since expired.

Read more: Is now a good time to buy a house?

We’ve already covered the top 10 cities to rent vs. buy, so now let’s look at the top 10 cities to buy vs rent.

While there are plenty of advantages to renting an apartment or a home, there may be more upside to buying one, depending on where you live.

Currently, mortgage rates are at all-time record lows, meaning you can borrow on the cheap.

Home prices have also dropped considerably in certain parts of the country, though it’s important to note that they’ve come off grossly inflated highs.

You may also be wondering if real estate is still a good investment, given the ongoing turmoil.

Well, like I always say, real estate is all about location, and the index below from real estate listing service Trulia illustrates that point.

The company calculated the price-to-rent ratio using the average list price compared with the average cost of rent on two-bedroom apartments, condos, and townhouses listed on their website.

What they found is that hard-hit cities like Las Vegas, Miami, and Fresno are now good places to buy based on costly market rents and falling home prices.

As expected, a number of Texas cities made the list, along with Minneapolis, Minnesota, which took the number one spot.

Top 10 Cities to Buy vs. Rent

Read more: Is now a good time to buy a house?

Could this be the end of Zillow Zestimates as we know it?

First American CoreLogic Inc. has sued Zillow and seven other companies that provide automated house values.

The Santa Ana, CA-based company claims Zillow, Fiserv, IntelliReal, Interthinx, Lender Processing Services, Precision Appraisal Services, Real Data Inc, and Realec Technologies Inc. infringed upon a 1994 patent related to its automated valuation model, or AVM.

The AVM essentially estimates values for properties nationwide, and the aforementioned companies have been using it without paying out royalties to First American.

The lawsuit filed in the Eastern District of Texas names a mathematical model Patent No. 5,361,201, aka “Real Estate Appraisal Using Predictive Modeling.”

Zillow has been the only company to respond, though it only noted that it was aware of the lawsuit and has no plans to change its business model as a result.

The real estate juggernaut maintains that it provides estimates for a whopping 93 million homes in the United States, or nearly every residence in the country.

Zillow certainly came out of nowhere when it launched its Zestimates several years back – and they saw explosive growth in what seemed like days.

The big question is why First American waited so long to make the complaint, given the fact that Zillow and others have been providing these Internet house value estimates for years now.

And they’re not even close to accurate anyways. =)

More than 80 percent of first-time home buyers believe now is a good time to buy a home, according to a new survey from Realogy and parent company Century 21 Real Estate.

Which begs the question: why do only 80 percent of those buying a home think it’s a good idea? Are 20 percent buying homes even though they’re uncertain about the decision?

Well, in reality, the survey takes responses from those who purchased a home in the past year, so perhaps 20 percent feel they made a bad decision.

First-time home buyers said the three most influential factors behind their decision to enter the market were current housing prices (66%), the homebuyer tax credit (63%), and low interest rates (60%).

Home Price within Budget in a Good Neighborhood

Most important to first-time home buyers is a home priced within their budget, followed by a neighborhood’s safety.

And roughly half of first-time buyers believe home prices will rise over the next year, which leaves me feeling not all that confident.

The top two factors motivating current homeowners to sell are personal/family reasons and current housing prices.

I’m assuming the personal reasons are personal problems, like negative equity and unemployment, to name but two.

Like I said last month, homes aren’t selling for a reason, and there’s no rush to buy a home.

It’s still very much a buyer’s market, so take your time to find something you like at the right price!

Keep in mind that this survey was conducted by real estate agents, whose sole motivation is to sell homes.

Tip: Is now a good time to buy a home?

I already touched upon the most overvalued cities in the United States, so let’s talk about undervalued areas. Those are the ones we might want to invest in, right?

As one may have guessed, the hard-hit, foreclosure-riddled Las Vegas metro is the most undervalued area in the United States, with a median home price of $129,700.

According to statistics compiled by National City and IHS Global Insight, homes are selling at 41.40% below fair market value, compared to 38% below market value in 2006.

In Las Vegas, a number of homes and condos that were selling for $200,000 are now listed at around $40,000, presenting potential opportunity for those brave enough to take a gamble on Sin City.

Other undervalued spots include hard-hit spots in Florida, along with much of Central California, where foreclosures run rampant; Warren, Michigan also made the top ten, as the economy up there has ground to a halt.

The numbers are determined by comparing median home prices, income, mortgage rates, and population densities, along with historical premiums or discounts exhibited in areas over time.

The big question is determining which one of these undervalued spots can turn it around the fastest, an answer most likely based on employment conditions in the associated city.

Plenty has changed over the past four years in the real estate world.

Home prices have plummeted, large banks and mortgage lenders have gone out of business, and millions have received foreclosure notices.

But as the dust begins to settle, opportunities will present themselves, and as I always say, real estate is local, so some areas will recover faster than others.

Back in 2006, 213 of 299 metro areas were considered overpriced, according to a survey conducted by National City Corp. and IHS Global Insight, and reported by CNN.

Today, just 87 markets are considered overvalued, thanks to massive price declines nationwide.

Some markets have become less overvalued, such as Atlantic City, which was 59% overvalued in 2006, and now only 30.2% over market price.

Conversely, Wenatchee, Washington was 13% overvalued in 2006, and now 28.9% above its fair market value.

Here are the top ten most overvalued cities in the United States at the moment:

Take a look at the complete list here to see where your area stands. This information could be helpful in making a decision to buy, sell, or invest (Is real estate still a good investment?).

If you’re in the market for an investment property, you may be wondering where to buy in 2010.

Well, a company that specializes in analyzing the “best” investment properties could make your search a little bit easier.

FinestExpert.com gathers and analyzes data from over four million active properties nationwide, looking at things like employment, cash flow, rental markets, foreclosure impact, and growth level to find the top real estate investment markets.

The metropolitan areas that made the list tend to have the largest number of properties currently selling below their estimated value, with a good proportion of cash flow positive properties.

“For the first-time homebuyer, a good cash flow deal represents the ability to own for less than it would cost to rent,” the company said.

“These make excellent starter properties, especially for someone who may want to one day become a real estate investor.”

It’s important to note that the markets listed below were identified by the company as good “buy-and-hold” properties, not “quick-fix-and-flip” investments.

On to the list:

1.Dallas-Forth Worth-Arlington, TX
2.Houston, TX
3.Tulsa, OK
4.San Antonio, TX
5.Salt Lake City, UT
6.Phoenix, AZ
7.Indianapolis-Carmel, IN
8.Denver-Aurora, CO
9.Oklahoma City, OK
10.Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC

If you want a good idea as to what your home might sell for, or what one may cost, you need to go local; forget about national home prices.

Who cares if home prices are falling in Denver if they’re rising in Boston, and vice versa?  What about home prices sold in my neighborhood?

If you look at home prices sold in and around your area, and you’ll get a much better representation of what to expect if you decide to jump into the housing market.

That’s step one; step two is getting the latest sales information, because home prices can and will change rapidly, and appraisals are based largely on recent comparable sales.

Last week, real estate information provider Redfin announced that it can now deliver 1.4 million near-real-time sales records.

“Comparative Market Analyses are one of the real estate industry’s ‘killer applications,’” said Michael Smedberg, leader of Redfin’s query & statistics team, in a press release.

“But they’re often shrouded in mystery; agents have direct access to data such as prices and photos for just-sold homes, but buyers rarely do.”

“Without that direct access, consumers have had to rely on the expertise and availability of their agent, and this in turn made it hard to figure out on their own what to offer or ask for a listing.”

Previously, consumers could only access data based on public records that Redfin claims is delayed between two to eight weeks, at which time home prices could change by as much as 5%.

Going forward, you can access sales information via MLS-powered records within 15 minutes of a property being taken off the market by clicking on the “recently sold” tab in neighborhood, city, and region views on Redfin.

So if you’re in the market to buy or sell a home, you may want to keep an eye on this handy tool.  It could help you make an offer for a home, set the right listing price, or gauge when home prices will rise in your neighborhood.

There’s been plenty of talk of a housing bottom, but home prices may not rebound for another decade, according to a report from Celia Chen of Moody’s Economy.com.

She said home prices won’t return to their 2006 peak levels until 2020, and even later in certain hard-hit areas like California, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, and Florida.

For some unfortunate homeowners, they won’t see home prices back to peak levels until 2030, increasing the likelihood of strategic default.

After all, if you were one of the unlucky ones who purchased a home in or around 2006, and are now upside down on your mortgage, does it really make sense to wait another 20 years just to break even?

Essentially the areas that saw the biggest run-up in home prices saw the biggest subsequent declines, and as a result, will take the longest amount of time to reach those heights in the future.

Farm belt states, along with Texas and Oklahoma, where home prices fell less than 10 percent, could rebound within seven years.

Chen noted that those who doubt the length of the housing recovery should look at Japan, where residential home values are still down by about half from their peaks reached 15 years ago.

By the time home prices actually stop falling (yes, they’re still dropping), they’ll be down about 43 percent from peak prices reached in 2006, as measured by the benchmark Case-Shiller home price index.

More real estate Q&A: “Are home prices still falling?”

Lately, a lot of Americans have been wondering if the home price carnage is going to continue throughout 2009, or finally turn around now that’s there been an uptick in home sales.

While there has been a rise in both existing and new home sales over the past few months, the data must be taken with a huge grain of salt.

Before you get too excited, it’s important to understand that mortgage rates are hovering seem all-time lows thanks to government intervention and spending.

Additionally, there’s the homebuyer tax credit to take advantage of, along with the fact that were right in the thick of the homebuying season.

Sales are also being compared to some dismal numbers, both the early months of this year and sales from last year, which have been pretty abysmal compared to everything on record; so if home sales weren’t up, it’d be a disaster

So what’s all this news about the median home price rising in some markets?

Well, some cities have experienced month-to-month improvements in median home price, but home prices in many areas are still dropping as well, including hotspots like Las Vegas and Miami.

Of those cities that have experienced increases in median home price, much, if not all of it, can be attributed to a shift in what’s actually selling.

Most of the home sales over the past year have been distressed properties, mainly foreclosures selling at the low-end of the market.

As a result, the median home price was dragged down artificially, meaning home prices looked as if they plummeted, but it’s really just an exaggeration.

Unfortunately, the reverse is true as well, with recent median home prices in California and some parts of Arizona only climbing because more expensive properties are selling.

This pushes the median home price higher, but it’s really just a reflection of more expensive homes being sold out of necessity by those unable to make mortgage payments or facing unemployment.

Looking forward, home prices will probably continue to fall thanks to rising unemployment numbers, coupled with a housing inventory (much of it held off the market by the banks) that is still too large to substantiate current prices.

Of course, real estate is local, and home prices can rise and fall in different parts of the country at different times, so it’s important to research your own area and not worry so much about the national figures.