Home prices were falling faster in Seattle than any other major U.S. metro in early spring, as the Pacific Northwest city displaced Denver as the nation’s weakest housing market.
More than half of large metros posted year-over-year price declines in March. Seattle led the downturn with a 2.5% annual price drop, according to the latest data from the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday.
Denver, the previous month’s weakest market, was second with a 2% decline, followed by Tampa, FL (-1.9%), Dallas, TX (-1.7%), and Phoenix, AZ (-1.6%). Los Angeles (-1.6%) and Washington, DC, (-0.1%) also turned negative in March.
Notably, Tampa, previously the nation’s most distressed market, has begun showing signs of stabilization,as its annual price decline decline narrowing from -2.1% in February to -1.9% in March.
Nationally, the value of single-family homes as measured by repeat transactions posted a 0.7% annual gain in March, down from a 0.8% increase the month prior.
“More than half of the 20 major U.S. housing markets recorded year-over-year price declines in March,
reflecting a broadening and deepening housing slowdown,” says Nicholas Godec, head of fixed income tradables and commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The Case-Shiller Index reports on a two-month delay and reflects a three-month moving average of home sales prices.
Homes usually go under contract a month or two before they close, so the March data primarily reflect purchase decisions made in the winter months.
Although the Index’s price data is delayed by several months, it is considered one of the best available measures of changing home values, because it is based on repeat transactions on the same properties.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Snejana Farberov is a reporter at Realtor.com covering the U.S. housing market and the latest domestic real estate trends. She has worked as a general assignment journalist in New York City and Long Island for 16 years, writing for New York Post, Daily Mail, and News 12. Snejana earned bachelor’s degrees in journalism and Italian from St. John’s University, followed by a master’s degree from Columbia University School of Journalism.
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