Housing prices have improved recently, though it’s too early to call victory, said Yale University economist and housing expert Robert Shiller.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index, which Shiller helped design, showed a gain of 0.5 percent in June compared to the same month a year ago, the first annual increase since 2010.

Still, the market can only claim victory when the sector sees a year of such gains.

Editor's Note: Unthinkable Haunts Investors: Evidence for Imminent 90% Stock Market Drop.  

“There are a lot of positive indicators, but I think people tend to overreact to these. And if you look at the trend, which has been down since 2006, it’s a pretty strong trend that we have to see reversed. I might call it later this year, that we’ve reached the bottom, but I’m not ready yet,” Shiller told CNBC.

“The question is will this continue through the fall and the winter. We’ll wait and see,” Shiller said.

“I believe in momentum in the housing market. It looks like upward momentum, but I think it’s too soon to call.”

When asked what would it take to call a bottom, Shiller said “at least a solid year of price increases. And maybe other indicators, as well.”

Still, economists are optimistic the U.S. housing sector is at least heading in the right direction and are anticipating further gains.

“Persistent news of rising house prices should start convincing prospective home sellers that it’s not just a buyers’ market,” Jonathan Basile, an economist with Credit Suisse, told The Associated Press.

“And when Americans become more comfortable with selling their home, they also become more comfortable with buying another one.”

Editor's Note: Unthinkable Haunts Investors: Evidence for Imminent 90% Stock Market Drop.