Washington region's home prices heat up as U.S. cools down

The Washington area’s home prices in May outperformed the rest of the nation by leaps and bounds — again — while other markets continue to double dip, a new report says. Prices in May rose 4.9 percent in the Washington region from a year earlier, according to a report issued Thursday by the real estate tracking firm Clear Capital. The nation’s capital is just one of three markets that posted annual gains in May, with the other two gaining less than 2 percent.

Nationally, the home prices fell by 7.6 percent from last year.