Nov. 25--Home prices in September in the Chicago area declined for the first time in seven months but remain above their year-earlier levels, according to a widely watched national housing barometer released Tuesday.
The S/Case-Shiller home price index showed that local home prices fell 0.2 percent from August to September, but were 2.6 percent higher than in September 2013.
It was the first time since March that the index did not grow month to month, as Chicago-area home prices continue to tread around their June 2003 level. In August, the index of area home prices was 0.4 percent higher than in July and the annualized gain was 2.9 percent.
Chicago's condominium market also is seeing a pricing shift. Prices were flat from August to September, according to the index, and up 2.4 percent on an annualized basis. Year-over-year in August, prices were up 3 percent.
Across the country, there's been a pattern of slowing year-over-year gains and monthly home price declines , even in once-high-flying cities where there have been worries about a housing bubble forming. In San Francisco, for example, home prices were up 7.9 percent year-over-year but fell 0.2 percent from August to September, after a 0.4 percent drop in August.
Compared with the previous month, nine of the 20 cities in the index recorded lower monthly prices in September. Another nine saw gains, while Los Angeles and New York were flat.
For all 20 major cities included in the index, prices were flat in September, compared with August, and up 4.9 percent from a year earlier. That compared with a 5.6 percent year-over-year gain in August.
The slowdown in home price gains was expected, and considered a good sign of a housing market returning to equilibrium.
"The days of double-digit home value appreciation continue to rapidly fade away as more inventory comes on line, and the market is becoming more balanced between buyers and sellers," Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement. "In this more sedate environment, buyers can take more time to find the right deal for them, and sellers can rest assured they won't be left without a seat at the table when they turn around and become buyers. This slowdown is a critical step on the road back to a normal housing market."
mepodmolik@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @mepodmolik
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