Miami home prices rise 8.5 percent, according to S&P/Case-Shiller

Home prices in the Miami metropolitan area rose 8.5 percent year-over-year in October, according to the latest numbers from the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller home price index. Miami’s home price index reached 149.97 in October, although that represented a 0.2 percent drop from September. Nationally, a composite of 20 major metro areas saw prices increase by 4.3 percent. Miami’s increase was the fourth-highest among the list of 20. “Looking over this report, and considering other data on housing starts and sales, it is clear that the housing recovery is gathering strength,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Higher year-over-year price gains plus strong performances in the southwest and California, regions that suffered during the housing bust, confirm that housing is now contributing to the economy. Last week’s final revision to third quarter GDP growth showed that housing represented 10% of the growth while accounting for less than 3% of GDP.” —Alexander Britell