San Diego has fallen from its perch as one of the fastest rising home markets.

In November, the San Diego metropolitan area’s home price increased 4.45% annually, said an S&P Case-Shiller Indices report. The highest gains in the 20-city index were in the New York metro area, at 7.32%, and Chicago, at 6.21%.

San Diego metro, which includes all of San Diego County, fell to ninth in the index, its lowest showing in 15 months. The region had been the highest or second-highest price gains for 11 months in the closely watched index for most of late 2023 and 2024.

The national home price rose 3.75%, up slightly from 3.6% the previous month. That continues to be sluggish compared to double-digit gains during the pandemic and its aftermath.

Brian Luke, head of commodities, real and digital assets at S&P, said markets like New York and Chicago were above historical norms but the rest of the nation — especially the South — were showing signs of a slowdown.

“With the exception of pockets of above-trend performance,” he wrote in the report, “national home prices are trending below historical averages.”

Rising interest rates have taken a long time to lower, or slow, gains of still-high home prices.

At the end of November, the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.81%, according to Freddie Mac. It hit 7.04% in mid-January, its highest point since July.

The Case-Shiller Indices track repeat sales of identical single-family houses — and are seasonally adjusted — as they turn over through the years. The median resale single-family home price in the San Diego metro was $970,000 in November.

San Diego still had the biggest price gains in California, at 4.45%. Coming in at No.10 was Los Angeles-Orange counties at 3.84%, and San Francisco at No.16 with a 1.89% gain.

Tampa was the only metro area to be down year-over-year with a drop of 0.37%. Other sluggish markets included Denver, up 0.89%, and Dallas, up 0.95%.

“Regional variation in the housing market means that buyers across the country face vastly different market conditions,” said Hannah Jones, Realtor.com senior economic research analyst. “Markets in the Midwest and Northeast continued to see substantial demand, resulting in sustained price growth in November, while the South and West continued to soften.”

San Diego metro’s price gains are down from major surges during the pandemic, rising 30% in March 2022. The last time prices were negative was June 2023 when San Diego prices fell 2.5%.

Annual price growth by metropolitan area
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, November 2024

New York: 7.32%
Chicago: 6.21%
Washington, D.C.: 5.87%
Las Vegas: 5.57%
Cleveland: 5.42%
Seattle: 5.41%
Boston: 5.07%
Detroit: 4.62%
San Diego: 4.45%
Los Angeles-Anaheim: 3.84%
Charlotte: 3.61%
Miami: 3.17%
Atlanta: 2.85%
Minneapolis: 2.72%
Portland: 2.02%
San Francisco: 1.89%
Phoenix: 1.56%
Dallas: 0.95%
Denver: 0.89%
Tampa: -0.37%
NATIONAL: 3.75%

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar