Herstel Amerikaanse huizenmarkt fragiel

The recovery in the housing market is showing a pattern far different from what followed previous downturns, experts say, suggesting that the dramatic price gains of recent months may not be sustainable.

The surge in home prices, seen most recently in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released on Tuesday, is at least in part a function of record-low interest rates, extraordinarily low housing supply, and record-high volumes of investor money pouring into single family homes, analysts say.

That means that market fundamentals may not be as healthy as the headline price increase numbers would suggest.

In Western U.S. states such as California, Nevada and Arizona, the housing crash and resulting foreclosure crisis was particularly acute, and played a large part in the 2008 economic crash. Yet home prices in these regions are soaring, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index, which tracks prices in America's 20 largest metropolitan areas.