San Diego homes prices continue their seemingly inexorable rise, gaining 1 percent between February and March, according to the latest report from the authoritative Case-Shiller index.
The index, officially known as the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index, showed a 7.7 percent year-over-year increase in March, compared to the national average of 6.5 percent. Prices rose 0.8 percent nationally between February and March, just a little less than in San Diego.
But housing prices are rising even faster in other cities: 13 percent year-over-year in Seattle, 12.4 percent in Las Vegas and 11.3 percent in San Francisco.
“Looking across various national statistics on sales of new or existing homes, permits for new construction, and financing terms, two figures that stand out are rapidly rising home prices and low inventories of existing homes for sale,” said David M. Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in releasing the latest report on Tuesday. “Until inventories increase faster than sales, or the economy slows significantly, home prices are likely to continue rising.”
But he noted that the rate of increase is less than during the housing boom of the last decade. “Gains in the national index peaked at 14.5 percent in September 2005, more quickly than Seattle is rising now,” he said.
The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce said the continued rise in prices shows the need to build more housing locally.
“The housing shortage is hurting working families who often face long commutes, tough financial decisions, and a lack of housing options that force them to consider moving elsewhere,” said Sean Karafin, vice president of public policy and economic research. “We are losing talent to other cities because we aren’t building enough homes.”
