Portland home prices continue to rise as other markets decelerate

Portland remains one of the nation’s stronger housing markets, posting a year-over-year price gain of 6.6 percent, according to the closely watched Case Shiller index of home prices. Nationally, prices rose 4.7 percent.

“With the spring home buying season (and spring training) still a month or two away, the housing recovery is barely on first base,” said David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Prospects for a home run in 2015 aren’t good. Strong price gains are limited to California, Florida, the Pacific Northwest, Denver and Dallas.”

Portland is in the top tier of the country’s slowly rebounding housing markets, according to the index, which compares sale prices of matched pairs of houses in each market. Figures released Tuesday morning included sales through November 2014.

Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow, the online real estate platform, said Tuesday buyers should feel “more comfortable” in 2015 than in recent years as  mortgage rates remain low and previously sidelined buyers return to the market.

The Case-Shiller index is produced monthly by CoreLogic under an agreement with S&P Dow Jones Indices.

-Mike Francis

Article from the Oregonian