Tacoma Contributes to Positive Trendlines in Latest S&P Case-Shiller Report

The latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported positive home price growth for the first time in three months and as Seattle Times notes, it’s not the Emerald City pushing trendlines, it’s Tacoma. According to the data, which measures home prices in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, prices grew by 0.7 percent on a year-over-year basis. While King and Snohomish counties saw relatively unchanged home prices, Pierce County reported high gains, particularly at more moderate price points.

The fastest-growing price point lies within homes priced at $420,000 or below, which encompasses most Pierce County residences (where prices average $384,500). The greater Seattle area did slightly better than the nation in home price growth, as Case-Shiller reports a 0.3% increase overall. Phoenix took the top spot on the report, posting a 6.3% year-over-year gain from this time last year.

As Philip Murphy, managing director at S&P said in a statement, “a shift in regional leadership may be underway beneath the headline national index,” with the top three cities behind Phoenix all located in the Southeast region of the United States (Charlotte, Tampa and Atlanta). After topping the nation in home price growth recently, Las Vegas reported a 0.2 percent slide in home prices, a trend that seems to follow the peaking and leveling off that occurred in the Seattle region at the start of 2019.