By Kerry Smith
Of the 20 cities included in the indices, 8 had price declines – but Florida led the U.S. in price increases with #1 Miami (up 10.8% year-to-year) and #2 Tampa (7.7%).
NEW YORK – S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) February results on U.S. housing prices reported a 2.0% annual gain, down from 3.7% in January. Its 10-City Composite annual increase was 0.4%, down from 2.5% month-to-month; the 20-City Composite posted a 0.4% year-over-year gain, down 2.6% month-to-month.
Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta again reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities, and the order remained the same: Miami led the way with a 10.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Tampa in second with a 7.7% increase, and Atlanta in third with a 6.6% increase.
“Home price trends moderated in February 2023,” says Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI. “The National Composite, which had declined for seven consecutive months, rose a modest 0.2% in February and now stands 4.9% below its June 2022 peak.”
Lazzara says moderation is locally as well as nationally.
“Before seasonal adjustment, prices rose in 12 cities in February versus in only one in January. Seasonally adjusted data showed nine cities with rising prices in February versus five in January. With or without seasonal adjustment, most cities’ February results showed improvement relative to their January counterparts.”
However, ongoing stark regional differences are “most interesting” to Lazzara.
“Miami’s 10.8% year-over-year gain made it the best-performing city for the seventh consecutive month,” he says, while “Tampa and Atlanta continued in second and third place, with Charlotte (up 6.0%) close behind.
“Results were different in the Pacific and Mountain time zones. Last month, four West Coast cities (San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, and Portland) were in negative year-over-year territory. In February they were joined by four of their western neighbors, as Las Vegas (down 2.6%), Phoenix (down 2.1%), Los Angeles (down 1.3%), and Denver (down 1.2%) all tipped into negative territory.
“It’s unsurprising that the Southeast (up 7.8%) remains the country’s strongest region, while the West (down 4.2%) continues as the weakest.
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