Nov. 25--Southern California's housing market isn't going much of anywhere.
Home prices in Los Angeles and Orange counties held steady in September-- the second straight month they failed to rise or fall, according to Standard Poor's/Case-Shiller index, released Tuesday.
In San Diego, prices dipped 0.1% from August.
On a year-over-year basis, prices are still up, albeit less sharply than before. In L.A. and Orange counties, they rose 5.7% from September 2013, the smallest gain in two years.
After a torrid rebound in 2013, the housing market has mellowed. Families have struggled to afford higher prices and many investors have left the market, no longer seeing a bargain.
Most economists, however, say the slower pace is a good thing. It may give families a chance to catch up, after home prices rose far faster than incomes in recent years.
"It's important for things to cool off a bit in the housing market, because too-fast appreciation risks burning both buyers and sellers," Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries said in a statement. "This slowdown is a critical step on the road back to a normal housing market."
The cooling trend is playing out nationally as well. Across the U.S., prices climbed 4.8% from a year earlier, the smallest increase since October 2012.
