United States: Home price growth cools in June
On a month-on-month basis, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index rose 0.3% in June, down from the 0.6% increase in May. When adjusted for seasonal factors, however, home price growth was flat in June, which was down from May’s 0.1% rise and below market expectations of a 0.2% uptick.
In annual terms, home price growth slowed to a near seven-year low of 2.1% in June from 2.4% in May, underwhelming analysts’ expectations of 2.3% growth. West Coast markets, which had been major drivers of price growth in 2018, continued to cool, particularly in Seattle, where house prices fell again, and San Francisco. That said, Las Vegas and Phoenix continued see the strongest gains, with Tampa trailing closely behind. Overall, 14 out of the 20 cities in the index registered slower annual price growth in June than in May.
Commenting on the reading, Philip Murphy, managing director and global head of index governance at S&P Dow Jones Indices, noted:
“Home price gains continue to trend down, but may be leveling off to a sustainable level […] While housing has clearly cooled off from 2018, home price gains in most cities remain positive in low single digits. Therefore, it is likely that current rates of change will generally be sustained barring an economic downturn.”