U.S. home prices increased 0.1% on an adjusted basis in July compared with June and were up 3.2% compared with July 2018, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index.
Month-over-month, the index’s 10-city composite – measuring home price growth in the 10 largest U.S. cities – saw a 0.1% decrease while the 20-city composite was flat compared with June.
Year-over-year, the 10-city composite increased 1.6% while the 20-city composite posted a 2.0% gain. This is indicative of the ongoing slowdown in home price appreciation in the major urban hubs – particularly the major cities in the west.
Without seasonal adjustment, U.S. home prices increased 0.4% in July compared with August. The 10-city composite remained flat on an unadjusted basis while the 20-city composite reported a 0.1% increase for the month.
Phoenix, Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C., saw the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. Phoenix led the way with a 5.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Las Vegas at 4.7% and Charlotte at 4.6%.
“Year-over-year home prices continued to gain, but at ever more modest rates,” says Philip Murphy, managing director and global head of index governance at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement. “Charlotte surpassed Tampa to join the top three cities, and Seattle may be turning around from its recent negative streak of year-over-year price changes, improving from negative 1.3 percent in June to negative 0.06 percent in July.”
Murphy points out that most of the recent growth in home price appreciation has been in the southwest – including Phoenix and Las Vegas – and southeast – including Charlotte and Tampa.
“Home price gains remained positive in low single digits in most cities, and other fundamentals indicate renewed housing demand,” Murphy says. “According to the National Association of Realtors, the year-over-year change in existing home sales was positive in July for the first time in a number of months, and housing supply tightened since peaking in June.”
