San Diego home prices rose by 1 percent from February to March, and 6.5 percent since March of last year, according to the Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices released Tuesday.
San Diego’s performance fit right in with indices that showed real estate costs continuing to rise nationally.
The indices were created by taking home prices in 20 major U.S. real estate markets in January 2000, assigning them a value of 100, and tracking the subsequent rise and fall.
In March, San Diego recorded a 235.61, representing well over a doubling of prices over 18 years. The increase is the second-most in the country, behind only Los Angeles.
The national 20-market index stood at 195.39 in March, up 1 percent from the month before and 5.9 percent better than March 2016.
David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said the pace of increases is the greatest in nearly three years.
“While there is some regional variation, prices are rising across the U.S.,” Blitzer said.
“Half of the 20 cities tracked by the S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller indices rose more than 6 percent from March 2016 to March 2017,” he said. “The smallest gain of 4.1 percent, in New York, was roughly double the rate of inflation.”
He said sales of both new and existing homes, housing starts and the National Association of Home Builders’ Sentiment Index are all trending higher.
“Over the last year, analysts suggested that one factor pushing prices higher was the unusually low inventory of homes for sale — people are staying in their homes longer rather than selling and trading up,” Blitzer said.
“If mortgage rates, currently near 4 percent, rise further, this could deter more people from selling and keep pressure on inventories and prices,” he said. “While prices cannot rise indefinitely, there is no way to tell when rising prices and mortgage rates will force a slowdown in housing.”
— City News Service
