Home prices across Southern California continued to increase in May but the pace at which they went up has slowed, said the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices just released.

San Diego County’s median home price, adjusted for seasonal swings, increased 6.4 percent in the last 13 months, while Los Angeles and Orange Counties increased 5.4 percent.

National home prices increased 5 percent — unchanged from last month.

The median home price in San Diego County hit $495,000 in June, CoreLogic reported.

David Blitzer, managing chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in May’s report that the housing market was strong, in part because sales of existing homes reached the highest monthly level since 2007.

Svenja Gudell, Zillow chief economist, said in a statement that while the latest numbers look calm and consistent:

“Sellers are in the driver’s seat, as buyers contend with fierce competition and very fast-moving markets,” she said. “Demand is sky high and the number of homes sold is rising, even as inventory of homes for sale keeps falling.”

The Case-Shiller index is considered the gold standard for measuring and comparing overall big-city housing markets because it tracks repeat sales of identical single-family houses as they turn over through the years.

Source: sandiegouniontribune.com