Real estate prices are up across most of the United States. Among the reasons are tens of thousands of people who want to relocate because of the pandemic. Some want to move from cities to suburbs. Some want to move even further from metro areas. This migration has been aided by mortgage rates that were at historic lows — at least until recently.
Some prices have risen enough that homes are “out of reach” based on the ratio of a family’s income to mortgage payments and property taxes. In several places, the rise in home prices is extraordinary and well into the double digits.
The gold standard for home price measurement is the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which have been published each month since January 2000. At that time, the creators of the index took the prices across the 20 largest cities in America and gave them an identical index of 100. This allows for the long-term change in prices. Since then, prices have risen the least in Detroit and Cleveland, which had indexes of 141 as of January.
The city where the index had risen the most is Los Angeles at 321. Several other west coast cities are near the top: San Diego at 302, Seattle at 293 and San Francisco at 291. It may be no coincidence that Cleveland and Detroit have lost population and the west coast cities have gained residents over the past two decades.
The new release of the study is based on home prices in January. Compared to the same month last year, nationally, prices rose 11.2%. In the 20 largest cities, the number was 11.1%.
The city among the 20 that stood out in terms of a surge in home prices was Phoenix, up 15.8% compared to January 2020. No other city was above 15%. Phoenix was followed by Seattle at 14.3% and San Diego at 14.2%. The city where home prices rose the least was Las Vegas at 8.5%, which is still rapid. It could be that prices in Las Vegas have been affected by a tough jobs market brought on by a tourism industry battered by the pandemic.
Home Price Increases in 20 Big Cities
| City | Jan 2021 | Annual Change |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta | 169.96 | 9.6% |
| Boston | 252.27 | 12.7% |
| Charlotte | 185.62 | 11.0% |
| Chicago | 154.89 | 8.9% |
| Cleveland | 141.28 | 11.7% |
| Dallas | 210.82 | 9.2% |
| Denver | 246.05 | 10.0% |
| Detroit | 141.29 | 11.0% |
| Las Vegas | 212.60 | 8.5% |
| Los Angeles | 321.04 | 10.8% |
| Miami | 273.12 | 10.4% |
| Minneapolis | 196.90 | 10.7% |
| New York | 225.85 | 11.3% |
| Phoenix | 231.75 | 15.8% |
| Portland | 267.27 | 10.6% |
| San Diego | 301.72 | 14.2% |
| San Francisco | 291.04 | 9.5% |
| Seattle | 292.96 | 14.3% |
| Tampa | 251.70 | 11.9% |
| Washington | 260.21 | 10.7% |
Click here to see the 30 U.S. cities where home values are falling fastest.
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