July 17, 2012 (Jeff Alan)

Condominium prices in all five metropolitan areas covered by the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices improved in April with the San Francisco area posting the largest increase of the five metro areas.

Condo princes in San Francisco increased for the second consecutive month, rising 5.5 percent from March to April leaving prices 2.2 percent lower than a year ago. Despite this month’s increase and a 4.2 percent increase in March, prices in the Bay area have still fallen in 17 of the last 22 months.

Los Angeles also recorded its second consecutive monthly price increase, rising 0.5 percent in April and follows a 0.7 percent increase in March. Before March’s price increase, condo prices in the Los Angeles area had fallen the previous 19 consecutive months. Prices are still 4.9 percent below a year ago.

Prices in Los Angeles are now back to levels last seen in mid-2003, and in San Francisco, condo prices have dropped back to early-2003 levels.

Condo prices in Chicago, which had fallen a cumulative 16.8 percent from September through March, finally got some good news with a 0.7 percent price increase in April. April’s increase still leaves prices for condos in the Chicago area 9.6 percent below what they were a year ago and back at the same level they were at in October of 1999.

Along the East Cost, Boston and New York each posted increases of 3.0 and 0.8 percent during April, respectively.

Year-over-year, condo prices in New York are down 0.7 percent from April of 2011, while Boston was the only area in the Indices to record a year-over-year gain, climbing 2.5 percent above last year. Condo prices in New York have dropped back to early-2005 levels and in Boston prices have fallen back to early-2004 levels.

Tags: California, condo prices, S&P, Case-Shiller Index, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, New York, market prices

Source:
Standard and Poor