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Los Angeles area average home prices were up 21.6% in November and was best year for gains since 2005. All cities posted year-over-year gains for 11 straight months. Increases are expected to still be moderate this year. Housing is still a good investment.

A Look at Case-Shiller by Metro Area

Wall Street Journal 10:18 am Jan 28, 2014 By Phil Izzo

Home prices extended a winning streak in November, with 2013 shaping up as the best year for gains since 2005, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller indexes.

The composite 20-city home price index, a key gauge of U.S. home prices, was up 13.7% in November from a year earlier. All 20 cities have posted year-over-year gains for 11 straight months.
Prices in the 20-city index were 0.1% lower than the prior month, but that’s mostly due to the weaker winter selling season. Adjusted for seasonal variations, prices were 0.9% higher month-over-month. Nine of the 20 cities posted a monthly declines, though on a seasonally adjusted basis priced no city saw a drop.

Though home-price gains have been strong, the Case Shiller data are lagged. Many expect increases to moderate this year. “The rapid gains in house prices over the past year are the result of low inventories of homes for sale and strengthening home buying activity. But a slowdown in the pace of house price appreciation is in store for 2014,” said Paul Diggle at Capital Economics. “We are anticipating a meaningful increase in the supply of homes for sale. The survey evidence suggests that rising prices are motivating more owners to list their homes. And judging by the recovery in housing starts, the inventory of new homes for sale is also set to rise strongly.

Metro Area	November 2013 Level	Monthly change	Monthly change (seasonally adjusted)	Annual change
Atlanta	113.37	-0.3%	1.6%	18.5%
Boston	168.78	0.2%	1.3%	9.8%
Charlotte	124.83	-0.6%	0.5%	8.7%
Chicago	125.87	-1.2%	0.8%	11.0%
Cleveland	106.91	0.3%	1.2%	6.0%
Dallas	132.58	0.1%	1.0%	9.9%
Denver	146.45	-0.2%	0.5%	8.9%
Detroit	94.70	-0.1%	1.3%	17.3%
Las Vegas	128.00	0.6%	1.2%	27.3%
Los Angeles	214.79	0.1%	0.8%	21.6%
Miami	176.02	1.4%	1.6%	16.5%
Minneapolis	139.05	0.0%	0.8%	10.5%
New York	172.54	-0.4%	0.8%	6.0%
Phoenix	144.86	0.3%	0.4%	16.7%
Portland	159.92	-0.3%	0.7%	12.5%
San Diego	194.15	0.0%	0.7%	18.7%
San Francisco	180.19	0.4%	1.3%	23.2%
Seattle	160.17	-0.1%	0.4%	12.4%
Tampa	154.70	0.2%	1.1%	15.7%
Washington	203.71	-0.3%	0.7%	7.8%

Sources: S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic

 Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/01/28/a-look-at-case-shiller-by-metro-area-28/