10-29-2013 02:47 PM

Home prices see biggest increase since pre-recession

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The chart above depicts the annual returns of the S&P Case-Shiller 10- and 20-city composites.




Home prices in the nation's 20 biggest cities saw their biggest annual gain since February 2006, according to the new S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index.
The average annual gain in the 20 biggest cities was 12.8 percent in August. The annual gain in the Washington market was 6.3 percent.
The biggest leap in housing prices was in Las Vegas, up 29.2 percent, followed by San Francisco, up 25.4 percent from a year earlier in August.
Home values in Denver and Dallas reached record highs in August.
The S&P/Case-Shiller report on prices comes one day after more recent data from the National Association of Realtors, which showed a slowdown in sales in September, which the number of contracts signed to buy an existing home down 1.2 percent from September 2012, the first year-over-year decline in pending sales in 29 months.
The Washington-based trade group still expects 2013 prices gains of 11.5 percent, with price gains in 2014 slowing to around 6 percent.
Related: Million-dollar housing sales in Washington up
Jeff Clabaugh covers general assignment and provides business coverage for WTOP.


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