U.S. home price growth accelerates slightly less than forecast in July - S&P Dow Jones Indices

S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) reported on Tuesday its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, jumped 19.9 percent y-o-y in July, following an unrevised 19.1 percent y-o-y surge in June.

Economists had expected a surge of 20.0 percent y-o-y.

Phoenix (+32.4 percent y-o-y), San Diego (+27.8 percent y-o-y) and Seattle (+25.5 percent y-o-y) recorded the highest y-o-y increases among the 20 cities in July. Overall, 17 of the 20 cities reported greater price gains in the year ending July 2021 versus the year ending June 2021.

Meanwhile, the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, climbed 19.7 percent y-o-y in July, following an 18.7 percent y-o-y advance in the previous month. This was the biggest annual rise on record.

“July 2021 is the fourth consecutive month in which the growth rate of housing prices set a record,” noted Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI. “The last several months have been extraordinary not only in the level of price gains, but in the consistency of gains across the country. In July, all 20 cities rose, and 17 gained more in the 12 months ended in July than they had gained in the 12 months ended in June. Home prices in 19 of our 20 cities now stand at all-time highs, with the sole outlier (Chicago) only 0.3% below its 2006 peak.”