• All 20 cities tracked and both composite indices showed positive year-over-year returns in February. In Chicago, the index increased 3.4 percent from 122.61 in February 2014 to 126.72 in February 2015. This growth was greater than January 2015, when prices increased 2.5 percent from the previous year.
• Chicago’s February 2015 index level decreased by 0.04% from January 2015, while the 10-City and 20-City Composite monthly rates both increased by 0.5%.
• In a press release, Standard & Poor’s Index Committee Chairman David M. Blitzer said, “Home prices continue to rise and outpace both inflation and wage gains. While nationally, prices are recovering, new construction of single family homes remains very weak despite low vacancy rates among both renters and owner-occupied homes.”

Note: values reflect non-seasonally adjusted data, which are typically more appropriate for annual comparisons than monthly ones; however, due to heightened volatility in recent housing values that can skew the seasonal adjustments, S&P recommends using the non-seasonally adjusted numbers, even for month-to-month comparisons.

Source: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

The full press release and additional data can be found on the S&P website.

Chaired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, World Business Chicago is the public-private partnership leading the Plan for Economic Growth and Jobs in order to drive business development, cultivate talent, and put Chicago at the forefront of the global economy.

WBC’s “Economic Briefs” track indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including unemployment, population, venture capital, job openings and new hires, home sales, tourism, etc. This data provides a clear analytic framework for specific Plan strategies and initiatives. For a summary of these and other economic indicators, refer to WBC’s monthly Chicago By The Numbers.