Home Prices Rise At The Fastest Rate In 7 Years

Home prices increased at the highest rate in seven years between 2012 and 2013. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 U.S. cities increased 12.4 percent overall from July 2013 to July 2013. This represents the biggest year-to-year gain since February 2006.

Though all 20 cities in the index showed gains, the southwest showed the largest price increases overall. Las Vegas led the index with a 27.5 percent gain, while San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego all showed increases of more than 20 percent.

On a monthly rate, however, prices have slowed down, indicating that the rapid gains may be at an end. In July, for instance, prices increased by only 1.8 percent, the smallest individual monthly gain since March.

“More cities are experiencing slow gains each month than the previous month, suggesting that the rate of increase may have peaked,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement.