Housing Prices Rising in Area

Good news for homeowners, especially those thinking about selling or refinancing: Home prices across the country and here in the D.C. metro area rose more than expected in July, according to data released Tuesday from the S&P/Case-Shiller Housing Index.

In the Del Ray area, the average listing price for residences in the 22301 ZIP code was $893,231 in the week ending Sept. 19. In the 22305 ZIP code, the average listing price was $605,277. (See a map of ZIP code boundaries here.)

Across the D.C. metro area, the seasonally-adjusted Case-Shiller price index (which measures the average sale price for single-homes) for July this year was 188.64. That's up from 182.06 in July 2011 and 184.11 in July 2010. 

The numbers are calculated based on the repeat sale of existing single-family homes, where the baseline of 100 is the average price as of January 2000. The bottoming out of the index in our area was in April 2009. 

“The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 1.2 percent from July 2011, the biggest 12-month advance since August 2010,” Bloomberg News reported this morning.

Check out our new real estate section on Del Ray Patch for more news and information about local homes.