San Diego home price gains slowed at the start of the year, but remained higher than in more than half of the country.<\/p>\n
The San Diego metropolitan area\u2019s home price increased 0.51% annually in January, said the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Indices report released Tuesday. That puts it at No.7 in the 19-city index. Nearly half the cities in the index experienced annual price drops.<\/p>\n
Compared to previous years, price growth in the San Diego metro area, which includes all of San Diego County, is muted. Prices were up 11.2% to start 2024 and 3.4% to start 2025.<\/p>\n
Housing analysts said affordability challenges, despite lower mortgage rates, have slowed the real estate market. Many metro areas with the fastest pandemic price growth were hardest hit. Tampa prices were down 2.54% annually, followed by Denver, down 2.05% and Phoenix, down 1.59%.<\/p>\n
Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist of Bright MLS, noted national price gains were the lowest to start the year since the early 2010s. This was despite average mortgage rates hitting their lowest levels in more than three years.<\/p>\n
\u201cProspective buyers are waiting for both lower rates and slower price growth, and are increasingly asking for concessions from sellers,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
There was still a large divide among regions in this month\u2019s report with the East and Midwest being the biggest gainers. Prices were up 4.93% in the New York metro area, the nation\u2019s largest and includes New York City, parts of New York state, much of New Jersey and Connecticut, and Long Island.<\/p>\n
Three Midwest cities were near the top with gains: Chicago, up 4.63%, Cleveland, up 3.56%, and Minneapolis, up 2.49%.<\/p>\n
Nicholas Godec, of the S&P Dow Jones Indices, said most markets failed to exceed the rate of inflation so, in real terms, prices were down for recent buyers. San Diego County\u2019s annual inflation rate was 2.6% in January<\/a> said the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.<\/p>\n \u201cMonthly price changes were slightly negative before seasonal adjustment and modestly positive after,\u201d Godec said. \u201cConsistent with a market that is neither recovering nor correcting sharply.\u201d<\/p>\n The Case-Shiller index tracks repeat sales of identical single-family houses \u2014 and is seasonally adjusted \u2014 as they turn over through the years. It uses a three-month rolling average, which is often seen as a bellwether of the economy as a whole.<\/p>\n San Diego County\u2019s median home price for single-family homes in January was $1 million, according to Attom Data Solutions. The median is the point at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.<\/p>\n