Oct. 27--Home prices in the Chicago area and in most of the nation rose in August, according to the S/Case-Shiller home price index.
Chicago-area home prices rose 0.7 percent in August from July, besting the nation's 0.3 percent increase, according to the widely watched index, released Tuesday. Condominium prices in the Chicago area were essentially flat for the month.
Overall, it was the sixth straight monthly gain for the local market.
Price growth in the area, however, shows signs of hitting a plateau. In July, the area also saw a 0.7 percent increase month-over-month. Condo prices eked out a 0.5 percent gain in July.
On a year-over-year basis, price gains in the Chicago area were among the weakest in the nation's major cities. The 1.9 percent annualized gain was tied with Washington, D.C., and surpassed only New York's 1.8 percent.
Prices in the Chicago area are at about the same level as they were in the fall of 2003.
The home price index saw a year-over-year national gain of 4.7 percent in August.
With inflation low, such gains in the housing market are meaningful for homeowners.
"A notable part of today's economy is the continuing low inflation rate," David Blitzer, managing director of S Dow Jones Indices, said in a statement. "One result is that a 5 percent price increase in the value of a house means more today than it did in 2005-2006, the peak of the housing boom when the inflation rate was higher."
Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell said U.S. home value appreciation "has stabilized and settled into a nice groove over the past few months."
"This relative stability should continue into the foreseeable future," Gudell said in an email. "Interestingly, a good portion of the overall home price growth we're seeing, especially in cities, has been driven by strong growth in condominium values, which are currently appreciating more quickly than single-family homes."
Last week, the Illinois Association of Realtors said that, in the city of Chicago, sales totaled 2,358 homes in September, up 5.2 percent from last year. The median price of a Chicago home sold in September was $250,000, essentially flat.
The median price of single-family homes in the city dragged down overall numbers. The median sales price of condos rose 6.5 percent from a year ago, to $295,000, while the median selling price of single-family homes was up 0.4 percent, to nearly $196,000.
byerak@tribpub.com
