On Tuesday, the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index unveiled that in the 12 months ended in January, home price in the region increased 2.1% in the New York metropolitan area. It shall however, be noted that the rise was less than half the national increase.

Though things are progress, as per experts, housing market is recovering at a very slow pace from the worst recession since World War II. The index unveiled that home values are not that higher as they used to be in 2004. The condition remains the same at national and state level.

At the regional level, single-family prices are around 19% below their highest levels seen in mid-2006. Also, national values are around 17% below their peaks.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, affirmed that the housing market has witnessed a rise, but then also it faces difficulty. "Home prices [nationwide] are rising roughly twice as fast as wages, putting pressure on potential home buyers and heightening the risk that any uptick in interest rates could be a major setback", said Blitzer.

Blitzer also shared that the current home sector is weak and residential construction is also not taking at right pace. In Bergen County, the price of a single-family home declined 8.6% in January from a year earlier.

In Passaic County, the median dropped 1.8%, to $275,000. New Jersey's housing market is facing many challenges, like the state's employment market. The place is also not been able to offer desired number of jobs.

Also, the state is considered as one of the nation's highest rates of properties in the foreclosure pipeline. Economists Stephanie Karol and Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight found the national increase is to be a strong growth.