Home Price Gains Slow to 2015 Levels

S&P Down Jones yesterday said its monthly housing price index showed a 4.3% annual gain, the slowest rate since 2015.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices reported the January rate slowed from 4.6% in December. The 10-City Composite annual increase slowed to 3.2%, down from 3.7% in December. The 20-City Composite posted a 3.6% year-over-year gain, down from 4.1% in December.

Las Vegas, Phoenix and Minneapolis reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In January, Las Vegas led with a 10.5% year-over-year price increase, followed by Phoenix at 7.5% and Minneapolis at 5.1% increase. Only Phoenix reported greater price increases in the year ending January from December. In Seattle, annual price gains dropped from 12.8% to 4.1% year over year. San Francisco saw annual price increases shrink from 10.2% to 1.8% over the same period.

Month over month, before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a decrease of 0.2% in January. The 10-City and 20-City Composites reported 0.3% and 0.2% decreases for the month, respectively. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted an 0.2% month-over-month increase in January. The 10-City Composite did not post any gains, while the 20-City Composite posted an 0.1% month-over-month increase. In January, five of 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustment (Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas; Denver; Miami; and Tampa), while 14 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.

“Home price gains continue to shrink,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee with S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The last time it advanced this slowly was April 2015. Some cities where prices surged in 2017-2018 now face much smaller increases”

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