Eye On Housing
In August, home price appreciation accelerated in major markets across the nation.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, reported by S&P Dow Jones Indices, rose at a seasonally adjusted annual growth rate of 12.1% in August, faster than an 8.9% increase in July. It marks the highest annual growth rate since April 2013. On a year-over-year basis, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index posted a 5.7% annual gain in August, up from 4.8% in July. It is the fastest pace of home price appreciation since July 2018. This month’s acceleration strongly reflected recent activity in existing home sales and tight inventory. In August, existing home sales reached 14-year high, while the inventory decreased to 3.0-month.
Meanwhile, the Home Price Index, released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), rose at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 19.6% in August, following a 14.0% increase in July. On a year-over-year basis, the FHFA Home Price NSA Index rose by 8.1% in August, after an increase of 6.5% in July. It confirmed the acceleration in home price appreciation for this month.
In addition to tracking national home price changes, S&P reported home price indexes across 19 metro areas in August (Detroit metro area data was missing in August 2020 because there are not a sufficient number of records for the month of August for Detroit).
In August, home prices increased dramatically in most metro areas and their annual growth rates ranged from -2.9% to 29.7%. Among all the 19 metro areas, 13 metro areas exceeded the national average of 12.1%. San Diego, Seattle and Cleveland had the highest home price appreciation. San Diego led the way with a 29.7% increase, followed by Seattle with a 25.3% increase and Cleveland with a 21.5% increase. Home prices in New York declined by 2.9% in August.
Compared to last month, 16 of the 19 metro areas had an acceleration in home price appreciation while the remaining 3 metro areas (New York, Chicago and Portland) experienced a deceleration.
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