24 US Cities With Home Prices Rising the Fastest

August 27, 2016 by Douglas A. McIntyre

From The Fiscal Times

Home prices increased for the 48th month in a row in July, according to a new report from Zillow.

The price of a U.S. home rose 5.1 percent year over year to $187,300, according to the latest figures from Zillow. Values have been rising steadily since August 2012, but remain below the peak of $196,600 hit in April 2007, according to Zillow’s measure. Fourteen of the 35 largest U.S. metro areas have reached their previous peaks.

Portland, Oregon, Dallas and Denver recorded the highest price appreciation among the 35 largest metro areas in the country. Portland home values jumped 14.7 percent to $334,900, while housing prices in Dallas increased 11.9 percent. Seattle and Denver both saw their housing values rise 11.3 percent.

The most expensive metro areas — San Jose, California, where the median home is $948,600, and San Francisco, where the median is $807,800 — experienced 7.1 percent and 6.6 percent increases in home prices, respectively. However, the pace of appreciation has almost been halved this year in San Francisco. In January, prices there increased nearly 12 percent year over year.

“The Bay Area and Southern California are still growing at a faster pace than the nation as a whole, but growth rates have come back to earth a bit after several years of rapid growth,” Zillow chief economist Dr. Svenja Gudell said in a statement. “More than at any time since the boom and bust, we’re seeing a housing market that is driven by local fundamentals, and not by national trends.”

There is one major U.S. city that isn’t showing any appreciation at all. Home values in Indianapolis fell 3.5 percent in July from the previous year to $130,800, according to Zillow. Prices there are 6.5 percent below their peak level.

Here are the 24 metro areas where home values outpaced the national average of 5.1 percent.

Related: Homeownership Hits a 51-Year Low, but There May Be a Silver Lining
Related: 16 US Cities With the Fastest Rising Rents
Related: Real Estate Alert: Where Have All the Houses Gone?

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