SAN FANCISCO—According to new data from the Case-Shiller index, the housing market is on the rise, and homes in the city of San Francisco saw the largest jump in price.
As of March 2015, San Francisco housing prices are up 10.3 percent from a year ago. Denver came a close second, with a 10 percent increase in home prices.
Washington D.C. and Cleveland, only saw a 1 percent increase in housing prices. With all the cities’ gains averaged out, the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller 20-city home price index is up 5 percent.
The index is calculated using data gathered from repeat sales of single-family homes in 20 statistically important major metropolitan areas. By comparing past sale prices with current ones, a general trend in local housing prices—and the national housing market in general—can be observed.
One recently observed trend shows that, for 34 consecutive months, home prices have risen across the board. Though prices are still 15 percent below the levels reached during the peak of the housing bubble, they are rapidly recovering from the lows of the housing crash and recession. In recent months, housing prices have been rising quicker than the long-term trend.
David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P’s index committee, told The Los Angeles Times, “I would describe this as a rebound in home prices, not a bubble, and not a reason to be fearful.”
