The 10- and 20-City Composites posted annual home-price gains of 10.8 percent through April, a significantly lower rate when compared with March's gains of 13.1 and 12.9, respectively, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Prices Indices.
Nineteen of the 20 cities saw lower annual gains in April than in March. Despite lower annual gains, monthly figures were seasonally strong. Boston sported a 2.9 percent month-over-month increase-its highest gain in 27 years. Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle also reported monthly gains of 2 percent or more.
While the future "favors further gains in housing," the market is not back to normal, according to a statement from David M. Blitzer.
"[P]rices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories and declining foreclosure and real estate owned sales," he said. "First-time home buyers are not back in force, and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging. The question is whether housing will bounce back before the Fed begins to tighten sometime next year."
The peak-to-current-decline for both Composites is 18 percent. View the whole S&P Home Price Indices report here.
