The nation’s home prices are still going strong according to the latest Case Shiller home price indices for December released from S&P Dow Jones CoreLogic this morning. The December indices came in with an 18.8% increase for the full year, the same as reported for the 12 months ending in November.

Surprisingly, Chicago home price appreciation actually accelerated a bit with a 12.2% increase – the highest level in 4 months – compared to an 11.7% increase for the 12 months ending in November. Condos and townhomes rose by 3.9%, also the highest level in 4 months.

At least Chicago is no longer at the bottom of the major metro areas for price appreciation. We’ve risen to third from the bottom.

Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director at S&P DJI, pointed out that 2021 saw the highest rate of home price appreciation in the 34 years they’ve been tracking the data. However, he also pointed out that rising mortgage rates should put the kibosh on rising home prices.

Case Shiller Chicago Area Home Price Index By Month

The graph below plots the monthly index values for single family homes and condos along with a trend line that I constructed from pre-bubble data. December single family home prices rose 0.6% from November while condo prices dropped 0.3%. A drop is normal at that time of the year.

You can clearly see in the graph how single family home prices have once again pulled away from condo prices. Single family home prices are actually 2.3% above their bubble peak while condo prices are still 0.9% below.

Speaking of the bubble, single family home prices have risen 67.9% from the bottom of the crash in housing prices while condo prices have risen 64.1%. However, single family home prices are still lagging that red trend line by 20.1%.

#ChicagoHomePrices #CaseShiller #HomePrices

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.