Is this time to hoot and hollar? Well, it’s worth a little hurrah.

I’ve always thought that perception is reality. Get a little good news going and it is going to have some effect on the people’s perception of where this economy is heading. Are Baltimore homeowners out of the woods. Hardly. But a little push in the right direction can go a long ways in making homeowners feel a little better about the direction of the housing market.

The index of 20 metropolitan areas in the Case-Shiller index rose 0.5 percent in May from April.

“To put it in perspective, this is the first time we have seen broad increases in home prices in 34 months,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P, said in a statement. “This could be an indication that home price declines are finally stabilizing.”

The recovery has to start somewhere and when home values start to inch — slightly inch — upward, that’s good news for everyone.

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