Becoming the nation’s fastest growing city of the last decade has certainly contributed to Seattle’s hot streak as it once again leads the nation in home price growth. In the latest Case Shiller Home Price Index for April 2018, Seattle registered its 20th consecutive month at the top of the list as the cost of a single-family home in the metro area grew 13.1 percent from a year ago.
Nationally, home prices grew 6.4 percent. In Seattle, prices in the area increased 2.7 percent from the previous month, nearly three times the national average. Following close behind Seattle’s lead were Las Vegas, where home prices grew 12.7 percent, and San Francisco at 10.9 percent.
Seattle is just one of three regions covered on the Case Shiller list where home prices are above their bubble high from a decade ago (when adjusted for inflation). Dallas and Denver are the other two regions. Meanwhile, Las Vegas is still 47 percent below its peak once inflation is factored in.
Seattle’s 20-month streak is now tied for the second-longest streak since the Case-Shiller data began in 1987. San Francisco led the country for 20 months during the dot-com bubble between 1999 and 2001; and Portland for 23 months from 1990 to 1992.
Home prices have grown about $200,000, roughly eight times the national average, since Seattle’s current streak began in September 2016. Back then, the median price for a house was $625,000 in Seattle and $768,000 on the Eastside. Now, the median price has reached $830,000 in Seattle and $960,000 on the Eastside.
Demand continues to outpace supply, however, in the NWMLS Market Update for May, King County registered more than a month’s supply of inventory for the first time since September 2017, but only the third time since October 2016.