House costs attain report highs once more in February

Home prices in February increased by 6.4 percent year-over-year, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index, released Tuesday.  

In January, home prices jumped by 6 percent year over year, according to the index, the fastest annual growth since 2022.

The 10-city composite increased by 8 percent, up from a 7.4 percent increase in the previous month, according to a statement released with the index.  

The 20-city composite showed a year-over-year increase of 7.3 percent, up from a 6.6 percent increase in the previous month.  

San Diego has the highest year-over-year increase among those 20 cities, with an 11.4 percent increase in home prices in February, followed by Chicago and Detroit with increases of 8.9 percent.  

Portland saw the smallest increase in home prices at 2.2 percent.  

“Following last year’s decline, U.S. home prices are at or near all-time highs,” said Brian Luke, head of commodities, real & digital assets at S&P Dow Jones Indices.  

Luke added that the 10 and 20-city composite indices are now at all-time highs and for the third month in row, all cities have reported an increase in annual home prices.  

San Diego, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C., all have home prices at all-time highs, according to Luke.  

The two Southern California cities have outperformed neighbors to the north like San Francisco — which has experienced a home price drop of 12 percent since its peak in 2022 — as well as markets in Phoenix and Las Vegas, where home prices have dropped by 6 and 4.5 percent, respectively.  

Luke added that the Northeast has had the best performing market over the past year and a half, in part, due to companies requiring workers to return to the office.  

“As remote work benefited smaller (and sunnier markets) in the first part of the decade, return to office may be contributing to outperformance in larger metropolitan markets in the Northeast,” he said.