Home Prices in Seattle outpaced by most top national markets

Home prices in the Seattle area rose compared to last year for the second month in a row, by 1.7%

Is it a streak? Well, not really.

Seattle-area growth was well behind the 20-city home price index, which was up 2.1% in September from a year ago, according to the latest numbers from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Prices Index.

Among those markets, home price growth around Seattle outran only New York, Chicago and San Francisco.

Market-watchers know that’s a big change from previous years. For a 21-month stretch between 2016 and 2018, Seattle-area home prices grew faster than anywhere else in the country.

Month over month, home prices around Seattle fell by 0.3% in September, according to the index, which lags by two months.

Nationally, S&P Managing Director Craig Lazzara said in a statement, he saw “reassuring” trends after a long period of decelerating gains in home prices.

“It is, of course, too soon to say whether this month marks an end to the deceleration or is merely a pause in the longer-term trend,” he said.

Among the nation’s top 20 housing markets, only one — San Francisco — saw a year-over-year price decline in September.

For the fourth month in a row, Phoenix saw the fastest year-over-year price increases, at 6%. Elsewhere, cities in the southeast, including Charlotte, Tampa and Atlanta, also saw price growth of more than 4%.