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Quality of Life

San Diego Home Prices Increase Slightly

A local home for sale in San Diego.
Sarah Kovash
A local home for sale in San Diego.

Home prices in San Diego rose 0.9 percent between April and May, according to the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released Tuesday.

Area home prices climbed 4.8 percent between May 2014 and the same month this year, the data showed.

The indices were created by taking the price of housing in 20 major real estate markets in January 2000, assigning them a value of 100, and tracking their subsequent rise and fall.

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San Diego's index stood at 211.75 in May, representing more over a doubling of value over the past 15-plus years. The increase is the fourth- fastest in the U.S., behind Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

The S&P 20-city composite index was at 179.03, up 1.1 percent for the month and 4.9 percent over the past year. An index with the 10 largest cities recorded a mark of 194, up 1.1 percent for the month and 4.7 percent for the year.

"As home prices continue rising, they are sending more upbeat signals than other housing market indicators," said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

"Nationally, single-family home price increases have settled into a steady 4-5 percent annual pace following the double-digit bubbly pattern of 2013," he said.

According to Blitzer, the price hikes should continue over the next two years, but likely at a slower pace.

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"Prices are increasing about twice as fast as inflation or wages," Blitzer said. "Moreover, other housing measures are less robust."

He said first-time homebuyers are a weakness in the market, and if they can't afford to buy, then homeowners can't move up to more expensive properties.