Home Prices Accelerate in January, Posting Highest Yearly Increase Since 2006

Average home prices increased in all 20 of the cities tracked by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices over the 12 months ended in January.  Each of Case-Shiller's city indices also increased the 10-City Composite by 7.3 percent and the 20-City Composite by 8.1 percent.  Nineteen of the 20 cities had larger annual increases in January than they had in December.  On a monthly basis the 10-City Composite increased 0.2 percent and the 20-City was up 0.1 percent.

New York City had been the sole metropolitan area to have a negative annual return in December but it turned the corner in January, ending 28 months of annual price declines with a 0.6 percent increase.  Despite an annual gain of 13.8 percent Detroit was the only city in which the annual improvement in January was smaller than that in December. Phoenix had the largest annual increase in home prices, gaining 23.2 percent followed by San Francisco with a positive 17.5 percent change.

"The two headline composites posted their highest year-over-year increases since summer 2006," says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "This marks the highest increase since the housing bubble burst.

"After more than two years of consecutive year-over-year declines, New York reversed trend and posted a positive return in January. The Southwest (Phoenix and Las Vegas) plus San Francisco posted the highest annual increases; they were also among the hardest hit by the housing bust. Atlanta and Dallas recorded their highest year-over-year gains.

As of January the average home prices in the country are back to fall 2003 levels for both composites.  When measured from their June/July peaks the two composites have declined about 29 percent but have risen 8-9 percent from the low points experienced in the late winter of 2012.

"Economic data continues to support the housing recovery. Single-family home building permits and housing starts posted double-digit year-over-year increases in February 2013. Despite a slight uptick in foreclosure filings, numbers are still down 25% year-over-year. Steady employment and low borrowing rates pushed inventories down to their lowest post-recession levels," Blitzer said.

While all 20 cities included in the indices posted annual price increases and eight had increases in double digits, only nine cities saw price increases from December to January.

The S&P/Case-Shiller Composites are value weighted averages of the 10 and 20 cities tracked.  They have a base value of 100 in January 2000; thus, for example, a current index value of 150 translates to a 50% appreciation rate since January 2000 for a typical home located within the subject market.  In January two cities were indexed below 100, Detroit at 80.01 and Atlanta at 96.90