Home prices rise at slower pace

Home prices keep rising in South Florida, but the gains are getting smaller, according a national housing index released Tuesday.

In Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties, prices increased 6.8 percent in January froma year earlier, data fromthe Standard& Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index show.

The annual increases had topped 7 percent and 8 percent in recent months, putting the tri-county region among the leaders nationwide. But now South Florida ranks in the middle of the pack compared with 19 other metros tracked by Case-Shiller.

Portland, Ore., topped the index with an annual increase of 11.8 percent. Seattle was second at 10.7 percent and San Francisco third at 10.5 percent.

Despite a general slowing of price increases nationwide, prices “continue to climb at more than twice the rate of inflation,” David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at Standard & Poor’s, said in a statement. “The low inventory of homes for sale — currently about a five-month supply

— means thatwould-be sellers seeking to trade up are having a hard time finding a new, larger home.”

In South Florida, the market is less frenzied than it was last year and the year before. Even with the shortage of listings, buyers are holding firm and refusing to engage sellers, particularly on overpriced properties, real estate agents say. Some homes are taking longer to sell, and price reductions are becoming more common.

“Sellers are getting frustrated when they don’t see offers in the first month,” said Jon Klein, an agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties. “They’re not going to get the high prices they’re expecting.”

Housing analysts across the country say the Case-Shiller index is one of the best measures of home values because it tracks the price of the same house over time.

Local Realtor boards release countywide median prices for homes and condominiums sold in a given month, but the Case-Shiller index lags the Realtor data by amonth.

Tampa is the only other Florida metro covered by the index. Prices there rose 7.4 percent in January compared with January 2015.