Dallas area home prices inch higher in latest national snapshot

Dallas-area home prices were up 2.8% from a year ago in the latest nationwide comparison.

Nationwide, home prices were 3.2% higher in August the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index. Year-over-year home price gains have cooled this year in most of the major U.S. markets included in the monthly Case-Shiller report.

"However, a shift in regional leadership may be underway beneath the headline national index," S&P's Philip Murphy said in the report. "Phoenix saw an increase in its year over year price change to 6.3% and retained its leading position. However, Las Vegas dropped from No. 2 to No. 8 among the cities of the 20-city composite, falling from a 4.7% year over year change in July to only 3.3% in August."

San Francisco-area home prices were down from a year ago by 0.1% And prices were up only fractionally in Seattle and New York.

Home price gains in the Dallas-area are about half what they were a year ago. But housing values in North Texas are more than 70% ahead of where they were during the worst of the Great Recession in 2009, according to Case-Shiller's index.

Home sales in Dallas-Fort Worth are about 2% higher so far in 2019 compared with last year.

"Despite some indications the market may be hitting a turning point, the general pace of home price growth continues to slow and come back in line with historic norms," Zillow economist Matthew Speakman said in response to the latest Case-Shiller report. "But rather than signifying an impending housing swoon, this slowdown should more accurately be read as stabilization after years of imbalance between buyers and sellers."

Speakman said it's unlikely the housing market will see "a sharp slowdown."

"A modest reacceleration of home value appreciation may be coming soon," he said.

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Home prices Housing markets Purchase Zillow CoreLogic Texas
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