Home Price Gains Slow as Housing Starts to Catch Up

Home prices rose again in July, but at a somewhat slower pace as housing inventories slowly began to catch up with demand, according to the Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices.

The National Home Price Index reported a 6.0% annual gain in July, down from 6.2% in June. The 10-City Composite annual increase slowed to 5.5%, down from 6.0% in June; the 20-City Composite posted a 5.9% year-over-year gain, down from 6.4% in the previous month.

Las Vegas, Seattle and San Francisco continued to report the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In July, Las Vegas saw a 13.7% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle at 12.1% and San Francisco at 10.8%. Five of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending July from June.

On a month-over-month basis, before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted an 0.4% gain in July. The 10-City and 20-City Composites reported increases of 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted an 0.2% month-over-month increase in July. The 10-City Composite remained flat and the 20-City Composite posted a 0.1% month-over-month increase. Eighteen of 20 cities reported increases in June before seasonal adjustment, while 13 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.

“Rising homes prices are beginning to catch up with housing,” said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee with S&P Dow Jones Indices.

The report said as of July, average home prices for the metros within the 10-City and 20-City Composites are back to their winter 2007 levels.