WASHINGTON — The value of your home is probably rising, but appreciation in the Washington metro area remains below gains in the nation’s 20 biggest cities.
The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a lagging indicator of home values because it looks at where prices were two months ago, says the average year-over-year gain in the nation’s 20 largest cities in April was 5.4 percent, down from 5.5 percent in March.
The year-over-year gain in Washington was 1.9 percent, the smallest annual increase among the 20 largest cities, though prices in Washington rose 1.8 percent from March to April, behind only Minneapolis for a monthly gain.
“One result is that an increasing number of cities have surpassed the high prices seen before the Great Recession. Currently, seven cities, Denver, Dallas, Portland, Oregon, San Francisco, Seattle, Charlotte and Boston, are setting new highs,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The biggest year-over-year gain in April was Portland, Oregon, where prices were up 12.3 percent, followed by a 10.7 percent annual gain in Seattle and a 9.5 percent annual gain in Denver.
