WASHINGTON — Home prices are still rising in the Washington metro area, but at a much slower pace than in red-hot West Coast markets, a trend that continued in August.
The August S & P-Case Shiller Home Price Index says the median price in Washington was up 2.3 percent from a year earlier, and prices in Washington rose 0.3 percent from July to August.
Among the 20 largest metropolitan areas, only New York saw a smaller annual increase in home prices, rising 1.7 percent from August 2015.
In Portland, Oregon, on the other hand, the median price of a home in August was up 11.7 percent from a year earlier. In Seattle, the annual gain was 11.4 percent; in Denver, 8.8 percent.
“Supported by continued moderate economic growth, home prices extended recent gains,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S & P Dow Jones Indices.
“All 20 cities saw prices higher than a year earlier, with 120 enjoying larger annual gains than [the previous] month.”
The average annual gain among the 20 biggest cities was 5.1 percent.
