Home Prices Increase Most in Portland, Seattle, Denver: Case-Shiller February Index

In all 20 U.S. cities included in the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, February house prices increased year over year, and 14 of 20 posted a month-over-month increase. Portland (up 11.9%), Seattle (up 11%) and Denver (up 9.7%) posted the largest year-over-year gains. Cleveland (down 0.6%) and New York (down 0.5%) posted the largest price declines compared with January.

Other cities posting a month-over-month price decline were Minneapolis (down 0.4%), Chicago (down 0.3%), Washington, D.C., (down 0.2%) and Boston (down 0.1%).

The smallest year-over-year gains came in Washington, D.C., (1.4%), Chicago (1.8%) and New York (2.1%). Month over month, home prices rose most in San Francisco and Seattle (1.1%), followed by Denver (0.9%) and Los Angeles (0.7%).

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for February increased by 5.4% year over year for the 20-city composite index and by 4.6% for the 10-city composite index. The national index rose 5.3% year over year, unchanged compared with January. The 20-city index slipped from a 5.7% increase in January and the 10-city index slipped from 5.0%.

The index tracks prices on a three-month rolling average. February represents the three-month average of December, January and February prices.

Before seasonal adjustment, the month-over-month National Index, 10-City Composite and 20-City Composite posted gains of 0.2%, 0.1% and 0.2%, respectively. After seasonal adjustment, the month-over-month gains were 0.4% on the National Index, 0.6% on the 10-city index and 0.7% on the 20-city index.

Average home prices for January remain comparable to their levels in the winter of 2007.

The chairman of the S&P index committee said:

Home prices continue to rise twice as fast as inflation, but the pace is easing off in the most recent numbers. The year-over-year figures for the 10-City and 20-City Composites both slowed and 13 of the 20 cities saw slower year-over-year numbers compared to last month. The slower growth rate is evident in the monthly seasonally adjusted numbers: six cities experienced smaller monthly gains in February compared to January, when no city saw growth. Among the six were Seattle, Portland OR, and San Diego, all of which were very strong last time.

While financing is not an issue for home buyers, rising prices are a concern in many parts of the country. The visible supply of homes on the market is low at 4.8 months in the last report. Homeowners looking to sell their house and trade up to a larger house or a more desirable location are concerned with finding that new house. Additionally, the pace of new single family home construction and sales has not completely recovered from the recession.

Compared with their peak in the summer of 2006, home prices on both 10-city and 20-city indexes remain down about 11% to 13%. Since the low of March 2012, home prices are up 34.5% and 36.3% on the 10-city and 20-city indexes, respectively.