US home price growth cools again in March, Case-Shiller shows

The 10-city index increased 1.4% year over year and the 20-city index increased 0.8% year over year, both slowing from February. After seasonal adjustment, the 10-city index declined 0.03% month over month and the 20-city index declined 0.2%. More than half of the 20 markets saw year-over-year price declines in March. Seattle posted the largest annual decline at 2.5%, followed by Denver, Tampa, and Dallas. Chicago posted the largest annual increase at 6.1%, followed by New York and Cleveland. Midwest and Northeast markets showed modest growth, while much of the Sun Belt and Western regions continued to decline. Inflation outpaced national home price appreciation for 10 consecutive months, with real home values falling. The national median list price for a single-family home was $450,000 for the week ending May 22, down 3.23% from a year earlier.

"The 10-city index (330.38) posted a 1.4% year-over-year increase, down from 1.5% in February. The 20-city index (318.73) recorded a 0.8% annual increase, down from 0.9% in February. Additionally, after seasonal adjustment, the 10-city index recorded a 0.03% month-over-month decline, while the 20-city index posted 0.2% monthly decrease."

"More than half of the 20 markets examined posted year-over-year price declines in March. Seattle was the weakest with a 2.5% annual decline, followed by Denver (-1.95%), Tampa (-1.93%) and Dallas (-1.71%). At the other end of the spectrum, Chicago posted the largest annual price increase at 6.1%, followed by New York and Cleveland with annual price increases of 4% and 3%, respectively."

"The geographic divergence remains stark. Midwest and Northeast markets are sustaining modest growth, while much of the Sun Belt and Western regions are still seeing declines. The spread between the strongest and weakest markets 8.6 percentage points, from Chicago's +6.1% to Seattle's -2.5% highlights how localized this housing cycle has become."

"This marks the 10th consecutive month that inflation outpaced national home price appreciation, as the Consumer Price Index for March ran 2.6 percentage points above the 0.7% annual home price gain for the month. 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."

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