Home prices in the San Diego region fell for the second month in a row amid a slowdown in the housing market, according to the authoritative Case-Shiller report.
The report released Tuesday morning showed San Diego home prices down 0.3 percent in September after a 0.5 percent decline in August. However, local prices are still up 4 percent over the past year.
“Home prices plus data on house sales and construction confirm the slowdown in housing,” said David M. Blitzer, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “On a monthly basis, nine cities saw prices decline in September compared to August.”
On the West Coast, Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle saw price declines, while prices in San Francisco were unchanged.
Blitzer said homes sales peaked a year ago and pointed to rising mortgage rates as a key reason for the slowdown.
Zillow, the online real estate service, said the market is beginning to favor buyers over sellers.
“As the pace of home value growth continues to slow, the national housing market is finally beginning to find more balance between buyers and sellers after years of near-total seller control,” said senior economist Aaron Terrazas. “Inventory is up after almost four years of uninterrupted declines, especially in formerly red-hot and pricey West Coast markets, and price cuts are becoming more frequent.”