Seattle Home Prices Land In Top 3 For Annual Growth

SEATTLE — A new report found housing prices grew at a record-breaking pace across the U.S. in July, for the fourth month in a row, and Seattle has seen one of the most dramatic increases in the nation over the last year.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices serves as one of the nation's preeminent trackers of housing prices, and the latest report released Tuesday found they soared to all-time highs in 19 of 20 major cities.

Leading the pack in July were Phoenix, San Diego and Seattle, which reported the three highest year-over-year price increases:

Biggest increases in housing prices (July 2020 - July 2021):

• Phoenix: +32.4%
• San Diego: +27.8%
• Seattle: +25.5%

"July 2021 is the fourth consecutive month in which the growth rate of housing prices set a record," said Craig J. Lazzara, with S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The last several months have been extraordinary not only in the level of price gains, but in the consistency of gains across the county."

According to a new report from Tomo, Seattle-area home buyers would need to save 10 percent of their income every month for more than 12 years to afford a 20 percent down payment — longer than needed in places like New York City, Portland and Denver. As The Seattle Times reports, housing prices grew at an even faster pace in parts of Snohomish County, surging more than 30 percent between August 2020 and August 2021.

Related: Puget Sound Realtors See Signs Of Fall Slowdown