Real estate has always been about location but there are definitely times when that’s more true than others. This is one of them. In fact, according to the latest results of the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, there’s currently a considerable gap in home price behavior from one region to the next. Looking at data through the end of July, S&P found that gap to be about 9 percent. Rebecca Kaufman, S&P’s associate director of commodities, says the regional difference is clear. “For the fifth consecutive month, Chicago led all metros with a 6.9 percent annual gain in July, followed by New York (5.8 percent) and Cleveland (4.2 percent),” Kaufman said. “Meanwhile, Seattle posted the largest annual decline for the second consecutive month, falling 1.6 percent, followed by Las Vegas (-1.3 percent) and Denver (-1.1 percent).” In other words, prices in the Midwest are still rising steadily, while metros in the West are seeing slight declines. Overall, home prices were 1.9 percent higher than last year, a slight increase from the previous month’s report. (source)
