Here’s one sign that the cooling off for housing appreciation has become widespread: The hot San Francisco housing market actually saw home prices drop in July, marking the city’s weakest result since early 2012, according to data released Tuesday morning.

Looking at a broader gauge of prices in 20 cities, July saw overall growth of 0.6% in July, slower than the 1% rise in June, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index.

After seasonal adjustments, home prices among the 20 cities fell 0.5% in July — the biggest drop since October 2011 — compared with a 0.3% decline in June.

Slower appreciation could encourage more buyers, though prices are still outpacing inflation. A larger number of homes on the market has helped cool down home-price growth. At the same time, demand has been somewhat curbed by increasingly pricey properties and mortgage loans.

Meanwhile, annual growth slowed down, with year-over-year home prices rising 6.7% in July — the slowest pace since late 2012 — compared with annual growth of 8.1% in June. Among the 20 tracked cities, 19 saw slower annual growth in July.

“The geographic breadth of the pullback in prices is noteworthy,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities, wrote in a research note. “Apologies if you are looking to sell your home, but perhaps a bit of relief on the price side will help to bolster housing demand, which has been disappointing lately.”

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-prices-see-widespread-slowdown-in-july-2014-09-30