John Varano

Home prices were up 5.6 percent year-over-year, according to the latest results from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Indices. Considered the leading measure of U.S. home values, the index found prices relatively flat month-over-month but up on an annual basis. Seattle, Portland, and Denver reported the sharpest increases but, in total, eight of the 20 included cities saw greater gains than they did over the same period one year earlier. David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, says home prices have fully recovered after years of volatility. “With the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index rising at about 5.5 percent annual rate over the last two-and-a-half years and having reached a new all-time high recently, one can argue that housing has recovered from the boom-bust cycle that began a dozen years ago,” Blitzer said in a press release. “The recovery has been supported by a few economic factors: low interest rates, falling unemployment, and consistent gains in per-capita disposable personal income.” Blitzer added that continued personal income and employment gains could boost demand for housing even further this year.