Region's home prices bucking nation's double dip

Home prices in the Washington region outpaced the country in January, the latest step in a long march upward while the rest of the country’s top markets head toward another housing dip, a new report shows. Prices in the Washington region rose 0.1 percent in January from December, while the other 19 major markets fell, according to a new S&P/Case-Shiller home price report. Annually, local prices showed a growth rate of 3.6 percent, the healthiest in the country. The annual increase is far ahead of San Diego, where prices climbed 0.1 percent from January 2010, the only other January price increase among the nation’s top 20 markets.

Meanwhile, prices fell annually by an average 3.1 percent in the top markets.