Case-Shiller: Home Prices Rise for 6th Straight Month

• November 27th 2012

by UrbanTurf Staff

On Tuesday morning, Case-Shiller reported that home prices increased by 3.6 percent between September 2011 and September 2012 in their 20-city index. In DC, prices were unchanged on a monthly basis, but rose 3.2 percent annually. In what is becoming a trend, Phoenix led the way in terms of increases with prices jumping 20.4 percent year-over-year.

Between August and September, home prices in DC increased slightly in the middle tier (homes between $293,756 and $457,827) and the high tier (above $457,827), but showed the most notable gains in the the low tier (under $293,756).

From David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices:

“Home prices rose in the third quarter, marking the sixth consecutive month of increasing prices. In September’s report all three headline composites and 17 of the 20 cities gained over their levels of a year ago. Month-over-month, 13 cities and both Composites posted positive monthly gains.”

While news of recent months regarding housing prices has largely been positive, the increases should be kept in perspective. Both the 10-city and 20-city Case-Shiller indices remain about 30 percent lower than their peaks in 2006.

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 (evidenced by the fact that this month’s report is about sales and price data from September). As such, the reported statistics are a better gauge of consumer sentiment, rather than what is going on in the market right now. A better indicator of where area prices stand currently is the October 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 region 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.

Home in thumbnail for sale at 3028 N Street NW.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/case-shiller_home_prices_rise_for_6th_straight_month/6342.