San Diego Home Values Continue to Rise

SAN DIEGO, CA -- The value of homes in San Diego rose by 1 percent from January to February, and 6.5 percent since February of last year, Standard & Poor's reported Tuesday.

San Diego's performance mirrored a nationwide rise in home prices over the past year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The index was created by taking the price of housing in 20 major real estate markets in January 2000, assigning them a value of 100, and tracking their subsequent rise and fall.

In February, San Diego stood at 233.31, representing well over a doubling of prices in 18 years or so. The growth is the second-most among the 20 cities in the index, behind Los Angeles.

According to S&P, the 20-market index stood at 193.49, up 0.4 percent for the month and 5.9 percent for the year.

"Housing and home prices continue to advance," said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The S&P Corelogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index and the two composite indices accelerated since the national index set a new high four months ago."

He said the number of sales has increased, even though the amount of homes for sale remains low. Housing affordability has continued to decline over the past five years, he said.

Home prices fell in only two markets between January and February, while all 20 advanced on an annual basis. The highest jump was in Seattle, at 12.2 percent.

By City News Service

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