Business & Tech

Home, Gas Prices on the Rise

Meanwhile, an index of economic indicators slips.

Three agencies released figures Tuesday reflecting different facets of San Diego's economy – with good and bad news for consumers.

Home prices rose, but gas prices took a slight uptick and a local measure of economic indicators dipped.

Home prices rose 0.2 percent in May compared to the previous month, according to Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. 

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That's far behind last year's figures though: San Diego's index is down 5.1 percent from May 2010. Eleven cities showed worse annual home price drops than San Diego, according to the indices. Case-Shiller tracks residential prices in 20 markets. San Diego's index featured the fourth highest price climb in the U.S., behind Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York City.

On the fuel front, the average price of a gallon of self serve in the county rose two-tenths of a cent to $3.821. 

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The price is 1 cent more than a week ago and 68.8 cents higher than last year, but still lower than June. It's fallen by 1.4 cents since then, according to figures from AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. 

Weak consumer confidence knocked down San Diego's index of leading economic indicators by 0.2 percent in June, according to Professor Alan Gin, who compiles the figures for the University of San Diego Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate.

Drops in building permits and lower local stock prices, coupled with an uptick in new unemployment claims, added to the decline, Gin said, though the index remains higher than a year ago.

“Although a downturn in the local economy is not imminent, the first drop in the USD index in more than two years is a cause for concern,” Gin said. 

Consumers were unhappy due to high gasoline prices and a soft job market, Gin said. He added that economists usually look for three consecutive changes either up or down to determine if the figures signal a turning point or just a one-month blip.

This story was complied from City News Service reports.


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