City-by-city look at house prices, as San Francisco surges again

[Mardochee Pierre]

City-by-city look at house prices, as San Francisco surges again Published: May 26, 2015 10:37 a.m

By

STEVE

D.C. BUREAU CHIEFShutterstockHome prices in Denver are up 10% year-on-year.

Here’s a city-by-city look at house prices, as the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite showed a 0.9% monthly gain for March and a 5% year-on-year gain.

Note that the cities are those selected by the Case-Shiller report, and that major metropolitan areas including Houston and Philadelphia are not included.

City	Monthly gain	Yearly gain
Atlanta	0.8%	5.4%
Boston	0.4%	4.6%
Charlotte	0.9%	5.8%
Chicago	0.9%	3.4%
Cleveland	0.4%	1.0%
Dallas	1.8%	9.3%
Denver	1.4%	10.0%
Detroit	0.8%	4.2%
Las Vegas	1.1%	5.7%
Los Angeles	0.8%	5.5%
Miami	1.0%	8.7%
Minneapolis	0.9%	3.0%
New York	-0.1%	2.7%
Phoenix	0.6%	3.1%
Portland	1.1%	6.9%
San Diego	1.3%	4.8%
San Francisco	3.0%	10.3%
Seattle	2.3%	7.5%
Tampa	1.4%	8.1%
Washington	0.8%	1.0%

 Seasonally adjusted, the March home price gain was an even stronger 1%.

From the peak, prices are still down 16%. But they’re up 31% from their March 2012 lows.

San Francisco’s 10.3% annual gain is its first double digit year-over-year increase since July 2014.

Also read: West Virginia sees largest drop in home prices over last year

Unlike other measures of home prices, the Case-Shiller report includes three months of transactions — in this case, January, February and March. The result however isn’t much different from other indicators. The latest CoreLogic home price report showed a 5.9% gain in the 12 months to March, while the FHFA house price report showed a 5.2% gain in the 12 months to March.

David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee for S&P Dow Jones Indices, discussed whether prices were in a bubble. “The only way you can be sure of a bubble is looking back after it’s over. The average 12-month rise in inflation-adjusted home prices since 1975 is about 1% per year compared to the current 4.1% pace, arguing for a bubble. However, the annual rate of increase halved in the last year, as shown in the first chart. Home prices are currently rising more quickly than either per capita personal income (3.1%) or wages (2.2%), narrowing the pool of future home-buyers. All of this suggests that some future moderation in home prices gains is likely. Moreover, consumer debt levels seem to be manageable. I would describe this as a rebound in home prices, not bubble and not a reason to be fearful.”