March home prices posted a 0.7% annual gain, down from 0.8% in February, resulting in the 10th consecutive month inflation has outpaced national home price appreciation, according to the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. The March inflation rate came in 2.6 percentage points above the 0.7% home price gain.
Additionally, over half of the major U.S. metropolitan areas saw year-over-year home price declines in March, with Seattle (-2.5%) in the weakest position, reflecting the declines in the broader western region. Chicago (6.1%) held the strongest position, pointing to the Midwest’s modest growth trend, according to the report.
"More than half of the 20 major U.S. housing markets recorded year-over-year price declines in March, reflecting a broadening and deepening housing slowdown," CFA, CAIA, CIPM and Head of Fixed Income Tradables & Commodities at S&P Dow Jones Indices Nicholas Godec said. "The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller National Home Price Index edged up just 0.7% in March from a year earlier, decelerating from February’s 0.8% rate. With consumer inflation accelerating to roughly 3.3% in March, U.S. home values have now fallen in real terms for the 10th consecutive month, underscoring an ongoing erosion of inflation-adjusted housing wealth,” he added.
Read the full report here.
