WASHINGTON — Home values in the Washington region continue to rise, but compared to other big cities, the pace of appreciation is much slower.
The latest S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which measures changes in median prices from May of 2017 to May of 2018, finds the average gain in the nation’s 20 largest cities was 6.5 percent, down from 6.7 percent in its April-to-April report.
The annual gain the Washington metro in May was 3.1 percent.
S&P Dow Jones isn’t ready to call it a housing bubble, despite continued rising prices.
“Unlike the boom-bust period surrounding the financial crisis, price gains are consistent across the 20 cities tracked in the release; currently, the range of the largest to smallest price change is 10 percentage points compared to a 20 percentage point range since 2001, and a 25 percentage point range between 2006 and 2009,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
“Not only are prices rising consistently, they are doing so across the country,” he said.
Prices are still rising the fastest in Seattle, Las Vegas and San Francisco.
The year-over-year gain in home values in Seattle as of May was 13.6 percent. In Las Vegas, it was 12.6 percent. In San Francisco, it was 10.9 percent.
Among the 20 largest cities, the 3.1 percent home price gain in Washington is the smallest annual gain.
