A home for sale in City Heights. Photo by Chris Stone
The growth in housing prices in San Diego County slowed again in April, dropping to 2.3% from 3.7% in March, according to the authoritative Case-Shiller Index released Tuesday.
The local increase was just above the national average of 2.1%. Over the past 12 months, San Diego prices have risen by 28.5 % compared to 20.4% nationwide.
As recently as February, San Diego led the nation with a 4.5% increase in prices.
“April 2022 showed initial (although inconsistent) signs of a deceleration in the growth rate of U.S. home prices,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
But he noted that despite the slowdown “growth rates are extremely strong by historical standard.”
Lazzara said higher mortgage rates are beginning to affect sales, adding that, “a more-challenging macroeconomic environment may not support extraordinary home price growth for much longer.”
A spokesman for the online real estate service Zillow echoed Lazzara’s assessment.
“With rates continuing their steep ascent and inventory picking up in months since, April is likely the first month of this deceleration as buyers balked at the cost of purchasing a home and pulled out of the market, leading to slower price growth,” said Zillow economist Nicole Bachaud.