According to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller Index, property values increased +2% during July 2019 from one year ago. This +2% increase represented the slowest pace of home price increases since August 2012. Nationally, home price gains remained steady.
Home prices in CoreLogic’s 20-City Index were basically unchanged from the prior month. All 20 cities showed y/y gains save Seattle where home prices decreased by =0.6% from one year earlier. Los Angeles, Washington DC and New York City showed decreased home prices while Boston and Denver remained unchanged. Phoenix was the brightest light with an increase in home prices of +5.8%. Las Vegas and Charlotte also reported strong annual gains.
A simultaneous release of the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency report showed that single-family-home prices gained +5% from the year earlier in July 2018. The FHFA report indicated that the monthly gain in home prices was +0.4%.
According to Philip Murphy, the global head of index governance with the S&P Dow Jones, said, “Year over year home prices continued to gain (in July 2019), but at average, more modest rates. Gains remained positive in low-single digits in most cities, and other fundamentals indicate renewed housing demand.”
Speaking of renewed housing demand, CoreLogic was somewhat positive in terms of the future outlook for home prices. CoreLogic indicated that existing home sales increased in August 2019 at the best pace in over one year while median sales prices saw the second fastest gain in the past year. CoreLogic speculated that price gains might accelerate as “lower rates may lure more buyers into the market.”
Also read: https://timandjulieharris.com/2019/09/03/nimbyism-blocks-affordability.html, https://timandjulieharris.com/2019/09/16/fall-market-shifts-towards-buyers.html, https://timandjulieharris.com/2019/09/23/75-of-housing-markets-recovered-from-recession.html
