Home prices are increasing at a more moderate pace than last year in the Twin Cities and beyond, according to the latest Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Index. A national 20-city composite for the month was up 13.2 percent compared with last year; the Twin Cities saw a 9.4-percent gain.
Here are some highlights from the report:
Twelve cities and the 20-city composite saw their annual rates worsen.
The 20-city composite posted its third consecutive monthly decline of 0.1 percent.
Las Vegas had the biggest annual gain (24.9 percent), but is still the farthest from its high set in August 2006.
Cleveland had the lowest annual gain (4 percent)
Here's what David M. Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, had to say about the decline:
"The housing recovery may have taken a breather due to the cold weather....expectations and recent data point to continued home price gains for 2014. Although most analysts do not expect the same rapid increases we saw last year, the consensus is for moderating gains. Existing home sales declined slightly in February and are at their lowest level since July 2012."
