San Diego County home prices rose 7.4 percent in a year as of January, said a key real estate index released Tuesday.

The region had the seventh-highest price gains out of the 20 cities in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

The bottom line: All regions covered in the index had price gains year-over-year as the entire nation rides a wave of increasing prices. David Blitzer, managing chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, wrote in the report that the reasons for increases are a low inventory of homes for sale and low vacancy rate in owner-occupied housing. “While price gains vary from city to city, there are few, if any, really weak spots,” he wrote.

How we compare: The biggest year-over-year price increases were in Seattle (12.9 percent), Las Vegas (11.1 percent) and San Francisco (10.2 percent). San Diego went through a streak of being in the top three or four highest gains at the end of last year. The lowest gains were in Chicago (2.4 percent) and Washington, D.C. (2.4 percent).


How the index works: The indices evaluate home prices by more than just price, tracking repeat sales of identical single-family houses as they turn over through the years. Prices are adjusted for seasonal swings. The median home price for a resale single-family home was $565,000 in January, CoreLogic said.

What analysts say: Prices increasing 7.4 percent in a year in San Diego could make things difficult for first-time buyers, industry watchers say. Sean Karafin, the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce’s economic and public policy researcher, said prices would push millennials out of the region. “If we don’t build more housing,” he said, “the cost will continue to rise and we will push our children and grandchildren to more affordable cities like Austin and Portland.”

Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said increased home shopping this spring could be exceedingly competitive for first-time buyers. “This year’s buyers may be competing against some of those buyers who have been unsuccessful during the past few months,” he wrote.

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S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices for January 2018

Yearly increases by city

Seattle — 12.9 percent

Las Vegas — 11.1 percent


San Francisco — 10.2 percent

Denver — 7.6 percent

Detroit — 7.6 percent

Los Angeles — 7.6 percent


San Diego — 7.4 percent

Portland — 7.1 percent

Dallas — 6.9 percent

Tampa — 6.7 percent


Atlanta — 6.5 percent

Charlotte — 6 percent

Minneapolis — 5.9 percent

Phoenix — 5.9 percent


Boston — 5.3 percent

New York — 5.2 percent

Miami — 4 percent

Cleveland — 3.5 percent


Chicago — 2.4 percent

Washington, D.C. — 2.4 percent


Business

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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