The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, on Tuesday reported a 3.5% annual gain in April, down from 3.7% in the previous month.
The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 2.3%, up from 2.2% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 2.5% year-over-year gain, down from 2.6% in the previous month.
Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In April, Las Vegas led the way with a 7.1% year-over-year price increase, followed by Phoenix with a 6.0% increase, and Tampa with a 5.6% increase. Nine of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending April 2019 versus the year ending March 2019.
Before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 0.9% in April. The 10-City and 20-City Composites both reported 0.8% increases for the month. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index recorded a 0.3% month-over-month increase in April. The 10-City Composite posted a 0.2% month-over-month increases and the 20-City Composite did not report an increase.
In April, 19 of 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustment, while 14 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.
“Home price gains continued in a trend of broad-based moderation,” says Philip Murphy, managing firector and global head of Index Governance at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Year-over-year price gains remain positive in most cities, though at diminishing rates of change. Seattle is a notable exception, where the YOY change has decreased from 13.1% in April 2018 to 0.0% in April 2019.
Murphy continued, “The national average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from below 4% in late 2017 to briefly reaching almost 5% by the latter part of 2018. Peak YOY changes in the 20-City Composite coincided with the upward turn in mortgage rates during the first quarter of 2018. In 2019, mortgage rates reversed course again and the 30-year fixed mortgage rate is again under 4%, yet the YOY house price moderation that coincided with the 2018 uptick in rates has not changed course. Other industry statistics are consistent with this observation. For example, the national supply of housing is trending upward and suggesting weaker demand.
He concluded, "Perhaps the trend for the moment is toward normalization around the real long run average annual price increase. Comparing the YOY National Index nominal change of 3.5% to April’s inflation rate of 2.0% yields a real house price change of 1.5% - edging closer to the real long run average of 1.2% cited by David Blitzer last month."