SAN DIEGO — San Diego home price gains have slowed compared to remarkable highs over the past few years.

In October, the San Diego metropolitan area’s home price increased 4.5% annually, said the S&P Case-Shiller Indices report released Tuesday. The highest gains in the 20-city index were in the New York metro area, at 7.27%, and Chicago, at 6.24%. San Diego ranked No. 7 on the list.

San Diego metro, which includes all of San Diego County, had the first or second highest price gains for 11 months in the closely watched index. Last year in October, San Diego had 7.2% annual gains. In 2022, San Diego County hit a 30% annual gain.

Price gains slowed across most of the nation in October — 3.6% on average — which analysts said was largely the result of higher interest rates and uncertainty over the presidential election. October marked the seventh consecutive month where annual gains had dropped.

Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com, said that buyers who do not need a mortgage to purchase a home, or have a lot of equity in a home they already own, will probably benefit in the coming year. Everybody else? Good luck.

“Buyers without the ability to self-finance,” he wrote in his analysis, “especially first-time buyers who don’t already have equity in a home they could sell, will continue to struggle to find opportunities even as prices moderate.”

Berner said that higher mortgage rates would likely mean fewer home sales in the coming months, and keep price appreciation moderate. On the last day of October, the average interest rate for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage was 6.72%, according to Freddie Mac.

Mortgage rates rose to their highest level in five months last week, up to 6.85% for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage.

The Case-Shiller Indices track repeat sales of identical single-family houses — and are seasonally adjusted — as they turn over through the years. The median resale single-family home price in the San Diego metro was $990,000 in October.

San Diego’s 4.5% annual gain in October was still the highest in California with its seventh-place finish. Coming in at No.10 was Los Angeles-Orange counties at 3.96%, and San Francisco at No.15 with a 1.58% gain.

Several markets nearly entered negative territory in October. Tampa narrowly stayed positive with a 0.39% annual gain, followed by Denver at 0.44% and Dallas at 0.85%.

Fewer sales have meant more homes on the market, mainly because they are sitting unsold. A new Redfin study said the number of active listings across the U.S. hit its highest level in four years in November. At the same time, 55% of homes had been on the market for 60 days or longer.

San Diego County didn’t have such high numbers, but it was a change from the past few years. Redfin said 46.1% of San Diego homes had been on the market for 60 days or longer, and the number of listings was up 28.9% from the same time in 2023.

There were roughly 5,550 homes listed for sale in San Diego County in October, near its highest point in four years, and up from 2,240 listings in January.

Annual price growth by metropolitan area

S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index, October 2024:

New York: 7.27%

Chicago: 6.24%

Las Vegas: 5.90%

Cleveland: 5.84%

Washington, D.C.: 5.67%

Seattle: 4.89%

San Diego: 4.50%

Detroit: 4.42%

Boston: 4.36%

Los Angeles-Orange counties: 3.96%

Charlotte: 3.94%

Miami: 3.15%

Atlanta: 2.95%

Minneapolis: 2.34%

San Francisco: 1.58%

Portland: 1.39%

Phoenix: 1.20%

Dallas: 0.85%

Denver: 0.44%

Tampa: 0.39%

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