Home prices in San Diego County rose by 0.1% in December and were up 4.7% for all of 2019, according the authoritative Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday.
The year’s increase was more than double the 2.3% recorded in 2018, and well above the national average of 3.8% for 2019.
“The U.S. housing market continued its trend of stable growth in December,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “This marks eight consecutive years of increasing housing prices. At the national level, home prices are 59% above the trough reached in February 2012.”
San Diego homes appreciated more than those in every major major Western metropolitan area except Phoenix. The comparable figures were 3.7% for Denver, 2.6% for Las Vegas, 2.7% for Los Angeles, 6.5% for Phoenix, 3.7% for Portland, 2.1% for San Francisco and 4.1% for Seattle.
“The final reading of 2019 confirmed that a re-acceleration of home price growth has indeed begun after spending nearly the entire calendar year tapping on the brakes,” said Matthew Speakman, an economist for the online real estate service Zillow.
But he warned that inventory is near the lowest level on record, causing a shortage of homes that “presents a significant challenge to the industry going forward.”