Case Shiller Index February 2013 Shows Home Prices Accelerating

Last week, the S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed home prices gaining 8.1 percent during the 12-month period ending January 2013, marking the largest year-over-year increases since the summer of 2006.

The Case-Shiller Index measures changes in home prices by tracking same-home sales throughout 20 housing markets nationwide; and the change in sales price from sale-to-sale.

Detached, single-family residences are used in the Case-Shiller Index methodology and data is for closed purchase transactions only.

All 20 Case Shiller Index Markets Show Growth:

Between December 2012 and January 2013, home values rose in all 20 Case-Shiller Index markets, with previously-hard hit areas such as Phoenix, Arizona leading the national price recovery.

Another notable gainer was New York, which posted the first year-over-year increase following 28 straight months of negative annual returns.

The top three yearly "gainers" for as of January 2013 were:

• Phoenix, Arizona : +23.2 percent
• San Francisco, California : +17.5 percent
• Las Vegas, Nevada : +15.3 Percent

Other year-over-year double digit gainers in home value were Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, and Minneapolis.

Broader Numbers Support Widespread Housing Recovery:

These strong annual home value increases continue to support the overall housing recovery.

There have been year-over-year double digit increases in home building permits and new housing starts as of February 2013 as well.

And foreclosure filings have fallen to only three-fourths of their previous annual levels.

It should be noted, however, that the Case-Shiller Index is an imperfect gauge of home values.

First, as mentioned, the index tracks changes in the detached, single-family housing market only. It specifically ignores sales of condominiums, co-ops and multi-unit homes.

Second, the Case-Shiller Index data set is limited to just 20 U.S. cities. There are more than 3,000 cities nationwide, which illustrates that the Case-Shiller sample set is limited.

And, lastly, the home sale price data used for the Case-Shiller Index is nearly two months behind its release date, rendering its conclusions somewhat out-of-date.

That said, the Case-Shiller Index joins the bevy of home value trackers pointing to home price growth over the last year.

A good next step for getting up-to-date home values in the Maple Grove area is to contact a qualified, licensed real estate professional.