<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
March 19, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Home prices still increasing, but at a slower pace

The Columbian
Published:

Home prices in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area increased by 8.2 percent in July from the year before, the S&P/Case-Shiller index reported. The increase from June to July was 0.7 percent. Both increases exceeded the national averages of 5.6 percent year-over-year and 0.5 percent for the month.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Portland-Vancouver region saw a one-month drop in home prices of 0.3 percent. That compares to a national increase in home prices of 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted.

The nation’s housing market cooled off faster than expected this summer, according to new figures out Tuesday.

Home prices increased 5.6 percent in July from the year before, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index. That’s down from 6.3 percent in June and their slowest pace since November 2012. The slowdown was broad-based, with price gains cooling off in 19 of the 20 cities Case-Shiller surveys.

Home prices in the Portland-Vancouver metropolitan area increased by 8.2 percent in July from the year before, the S&P/Case-Shiller index reported. The increase from June to July was 0.7 percent. Both increases exceeded the national averages of 5.6 percent year-over-year and 0.5 percent for the month.

On a seasonally-adjusted basis, the Portland-Vancouver region saw a one-month drop in home prices of 0.3 percent. That compares to a national increase in home prices of 0.2 percent, seasonally adjusted.

While gains are slowing, however, prices are still trending upward. From June to July, they climbed 0.2 percent nationally, after seasonal adjustments were factored in.

“The broad-based deceleration in home prices continued in the most recent data,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “However, home prices continue to rise at two to three times the rate of inflation. The slower pace of home price appreciation is consistent with most of the other housing data on housing starts and home sales.”

Analysts say the slowdown reflects a market that’s transitioning to a more normal pace of appreciation than the big swings of recent years, and most agree that’s a healthy development. There’s little on the horizon to suggest it will change soon, said Bill Banfield, vice president of Quicken Loans.

“Slow but steady is this year’s theme when it comes to home price increases,” Banfield said. “Unless we see a significant change in the economy, I don’t see this changing in the near future.”

Still, prices are leveling off below their pre-crash peak.

Loading...