Where home prices are headed
Home prices continued their cooldown, logging just a 3.4 percent annual increase in May, according to new data. It officially marks the 14th consecutive month that housing prices have slowed.
Home price growth lags, but it might not last for long
According to the new S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, national home prices rose by 3.4 percent in May. It’s the 14th straight month that price growth has decelerated.
On average, the nation’s top 10 metro areas saw even less growth, with prices rising just 2.2 percent. In 13 of the top 20 metros, prices grew less than in the previous month.
It seems the deceleration might not last for long, though. As Ralph McLaughlin, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic, explains, “The U.S. housing market cooldown continued in May, signaling the longest period of price growth anemia since the Great Recession. However, coupled with the recent drop in mortgage rates and incomes rising faster than inflation, the transition to a more balanced market should allow the industry to enter a period of sustainability into the foreseeable future.”
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Seattle sees prices sink
At the metro level, Las Vegas saw the biggest jump in home prices, with a 6.4 percent jump over May 2018. Phoenix came in second, with a 5.7 percent uptick, while Tampa, Florida, took third at 5.1 percent.
New forecast: 65% of homes will sell below listing price this quarter
On the other end of the spectrum, Seattle actually logged a price drop — the first for any top-20 metro since 2012. Home prices in the city dipped 1.2 percent over the same period last year.
Fellow Western cities San Francisco and Las Vegas didn’t price drops just yet, but their growth rates did slow considerably (9.9 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively.)
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