Case-Shiller: National Home Prices Show First Yearly Gain Since 2010

• August 28th 2012

by UrbanTurf Staff

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In continued good news for the national housing market, home prices increased by 0.5 percent between June 2011 and June 2012 in the 20-city index measured by Case-Shiller, the first annual gain since 2010. Also, for the second consecutive month, all 20 cities recorded positive monthly price gains. In DC, prices rose on both a monthly (2.1%) and annual (3.9%) basis. Phoenix led the way in terms of price increases with prices jumping 13.9 percent year-over-year.

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

“In this month’s report all three composites and all 20 cities improved both in June and through the entire second quarter of 2012. All 20 cities and both monthly Composites rose for the second consecutive month. It would have been a third consecutive month had we not seen home prices fall in Detroit back in April.”

Between May and June, home prices in DC increased in the low tier (under $293,756) and high tier (above $457,827), but, like the Case-Shiller report revealed last month, showed the largest gains in the middle tier (homes between $293,756 and $457,827).

When considering the Case-Shiller findings, recall that the index is based on closed sales and home price data from several months ago. In other words, 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 July 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.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/case-shiller_national_home_prices_show_first_yearly_gain_since_2010/5955.