Case-Shiller: Home Prices Rise 8.1 Percent Nationally

• March 26, 2013

by UrbanTurf Staff

Home prices in the DC area increased by 5.9 percent between January 2012 and January 2013, according to the Case-Shiller report released this morning. Nationally, prices rose 8.1 percent year-over-year, the biggest jump since 2006.

Seasonally adjusted, home prices rose 0.4 percent between December 2012 and January 2013 in the DC area, and 1.0 percent nationally over the same period.

Case-Shiller January 2013

From the report:

“Economic data continues to support the housing recovery. Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25% year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels.”

Between December and January, home prices in the DC area increased in the low tier (homes under $285,369) and middle tier (homes between $285,369 and $456,464) for the index, but dropped slightly in the highest tier (above $456,464).

David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, on today’s numbers:

“The two headline composites posted their highest year-over-year increases since summer 2006. This marks the highest increase since the housing bubble burst.”

The Case-Shiller Disclaimer

When considering the Case-Shiller findings, recall that the index is based on closed sales and home price data from several months ago. (A better indicator of where area prices stand right now is the March report from RealEstate Business Intelligence.) Another thing that is important to note is that the main index only covers single-family home prices, so co-op and condo prices are not included in the analysis that is widely reported. Chicago and New York City are two of the cities where Case-Shiller provides a separate index for condo prices, but DC does not have a similar index.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly when considering the conclusions of the index, the area covered by Case-Shiller can only very loosely be described as the “DC area”. According to the site, the following cities are included: DC, Calvert MD, Charles MD, Frederick MD, Montgomery MD, Prince Georges MD, Alexandria City VA, Arlington VA, Clarke VA, Fairfax VA, Fairfax City VA, Falls Church City VA, Fauquier VA, Fredericksburg City VA, Loudoun VA, Manassas City VA, Manassas Park City VA, Prince William VA, Spotsylvania VA, Stafford VA, Warren VA, Jefferson WV.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/case-shiller_home_prices_rise_8_8_nationally/6837