Home prices continued to trend upwards in July as the benchmark 20-city index rose for a eighteenth consecutive month to a new all-time high. The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index revealed seasonally adjusted home prices for the 20-city index saw a 0.3% increase month-over-month (MoM) and a 5.9% increase year-over-year (YoY). After adjusting for inflation, the MoM was reduced to -0.1% and the YoY was reduced to 0.5%.
The benchmark 10-city index rose for a eighteenth consecutive month to a new all-time high in July. The seasonally adjusted home prices for the 10-city index saw a 0.3% MoM, and a 6.7% increase YoY. After adjusting for inflation, the MoM dropped to -0.1% and YoY dropped to 1.4%.
The benchmark national index rose for a eighteenth consecutive month to a new all-time high in July. The seasonally adjusted home prices for the national index saw a 0.2% increase MoM, and a 4.9% increase YoY. After adjusting for inflation, the MoM fell to -0.2% and YoY fell to -0.4%.
Here is the analysis from today's Standard & Poor's press release:
ANALYSIS
"Accounting for seasonality of home purchases, we have witnessed 14 consecutive record highs in our National Index," says Brian D. Luke, CFA, Head of Commodities, Real & Digital Assets. "While the S&P 500 has achieved 39 record highs and the S&P GSCI Gold TR hit 35 record highs, housing is following a similar trajectory. The growth has come at a cost, with all but two markets decelerating last month, eight markets seeing monthly declines, and the slowest annual growth nationally in 2024. Overall, the indices continue to grow at a rate that exceeds long-run averages after accounting for inflation.
"We continue to observe outperformance in most low-price tiers in the market on a three- and five-year horizon," Luke continued. "The low-price tier of Tampa was the best performing market nationally with five-year performance of 88%. The New York market was the best market annually, posting a gain of 8.9%. New York's low-tier index, which include home values up to $533,000, helped drive that growth with 10.8% annual gains. Over five years, markets such as New York and Atlanta saw low-price-tiered indices outperforming their market by as much as 20% and 18%, respectively. The relative outperformance of low-price-tiered indices has both benefited first-time homebuyers as well as made it more difficult for those looking for a starter home. The opposite is happening in California, which has the most expensive high-price tiers in the nation, all well over $1 million. The rich are getting richer in San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco where their high-price-tiered indices outperformed on a one- and three-year basis.
