Case Shiller: Home Prices Up In DC and Nationwide

• June 26, 2012

by Shilpi Paul

Home prices in the DC area increased by 2.8 percent between March and April 2012, with a 1.6 percent year-over-year increase, according to the latest Case-Shiller report released this morning. Nationally, prices rose 1.3 percent between March and April 2012, after falling for seven consecutive months, but year-over-year prices fell. Seasonally adjusted, April home prices rose 1.4 percent in DC and 0.7 percent nationally.

Case-Shiller April 2012

From the report:

April’s data indicate that on an annual basis home prices fell by 1.9% for the 20-City Composites versus April 2011. While still negative, this is an improvement over the annual rates of -2.9% and -2.6% recorded for the month of March 2012. Both Composites and 18 of the 20 MSAs saw increases in annual returns in April compared to those published for March; only Detroit and New York fared worse in April, posting annual returns of +1.2% and -3.8% respectively, falling below their March returns of +3.9% and -3.0%. Ten of the 20 MSAs saw positive annual returns – Boston, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Tampa and Washington D.C.

Between March and April, home prices in DC increased in the low tier (under $293,756), middle tier (homes between $293,756 and $457,827) and high tier (above $457,827).

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

“With April 2012 data, we finally saw some rising home prices. On a monthly basis, 19 of the 20 MSAs and both Composites rose in April over March. Detroit was the only city that saw prices fall, down 3.6%. In addition, 18 of the 20 MSAs and both Composites saw better annual rates of return. It has been a long time since we enjoyed such broad- based gains.”

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 May 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_up_in_dc_and_nationwide/5699