US home prices rise at a slower pace
Home prices in the U.S. continued to climb in April but at a slower pace.
Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national home price index posted a 6.4% annual gain in April, down from 6.5% from a month earlier. The 20-city composite posted a 6.6% annual gain — below analysts’ estimates of 6.8%.
“The favorable economy and moderate mortgage rates both support recent gains in housing,” said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones, in a press statement.
“One factor pushing prices up is the continued low supply of homes for sale,” he said, adding that while the months-supply is currently 4.3 months, up from levels below four months earlier in the year, it is still low.
Seattle, once again, led the 20-city composite posting the highest annual home price gains at 13.1%. The city has been at a 10.5% annual price increase or greater since 2015. In April, Las Vegas followed Seattle, recording a 12.7% year-over-year increase.
Blitzer noted that if one adjusts the price movements for inflation since 2006, only Seattle and two other cities (Dallas and Denver) are higher than their peaks. “The National Index is 14% below its boom-time peak and Las Vegas, the city with the longest road to a new high, is 47% below its peak,” he said.
Amanda Fung is an editor at Yahoo Finance.
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