‘Glimmer of Hope’ in San Diego House Prices

About half the 20 markets followed by S&P dropped in the month-to-month statistics. All but two of the markets had lower annual prices, according to the report.

The Case-Shiller Indices took housing prices in January 2000, assigned them a value of 100, and tracked them as they rose or fell.

San Diego's figure was 154.91 in August, the fifth-highest climb of the 20 markets, behind Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York and Boston.

Nationally, the 20 markets as a whole were down 0.2 percent from July to August, and 3.8 percent lower from the year before.

David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Indices, said the numbers showed "a modest glimmer of hope'' since the annual drops are slowing.

The markets are about 3.9 percent above their lows, and Midwestern metropolitan areas like Chicago and Detroit—hit hard during the recession—are showing renewed strength, Blitzer said.

-City News Service