Multiple monthly home price indices continued climbing to higher elevations, with the West dominating the rise. At least one index reached another all-time high.
The Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index was 190.61 in May — the highest level on record for the sixth consecutive month.
Another index that reflects home prices in 20 large cities — the Case-Shiller Composite-20 Index — was 198.97 last month, up 0.8 percent from April.
The 20-city index, which was reported Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices based on data from CoreLogic Inc., has gained 5.7 percent since May 2016 and
is 48 percent higher than the low reached in March 2012. But it still stands 4 percent short of the July 2006 peak.
Compared to one year earlier, home prices were up 13.3 percent in Seattle, the top-performing metropolitan area reflected in the 20-city index. Portland followed at 8.9 percent, then Denver’s 7.9 percent, Dallas’ 7.8 percent and Detroit’s 7.6 percent.
The 3.3 percent year-over-year gain in Chicago was the worst among the 20 areas.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s
seasonally adjusted HPI closed out May at 249.2, rising 0.4 percent from a month earlier and 6.9 percent higher than a year earlier.
Prices were up from June 2016 in the Pacific by 8.7 percent
— more than any other region. Close behind were the Mountain, West South Central and South Atlantic regions each at 7.7 percent. Home prices were only up 4.0 percent in the Middle Atlantic, the smallest year-over-year gain.
Over at CoreLogic, its HPI forecast had home prices increasing 0.9 percent between
May and June, while CoreLogic predicts prices will rise 5.3 percent from May 2017 to May 2018.
“For current homeowners, the strong run-up in prices has boosted home equity and, in some cases, spending,” CoreLogic President and Chief Executive Officer Frank Martell stated in the report. “For renters and potential first-time homebuyers, it is not such a pretty picture. With price appreciation and rental inflation outstripping income growth, affordability is destined to become a bigger issue in most markets.”
