Midwest Markets Lead in Home Price Gains Over Past Year

U.S. home prices continued to rise in July amid historically low levels of inventory. More than half of the markets tracked recorded an increase in prices over the past year, led by two Midwest markets. Meanwhile, some West region markets saw deep annual price declines. Overall, U.S. home prices were up 0.6% from June to July, according to the seasonally unadjusted S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures average home prices across the nation. That was the sixth month in a row prices have increased. On an annual basis, home prices were up 1% as of July 2023. While that was the largest year-over-year increase in five months, it was well below the historic peak of 20.8% from March 2022. Looking at more granular results, the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index, which tracks prices in the 20 largest metros, posted a 0.6% month-over-month gain and 0.1% growth year-over-year. As of July, 19 of the 20 cities in the index reported month-over-month price increases, with only Portland (-0.2%) recording a slight pullback. The largest monthly increase was in Las Vegas (1.1%), followed by Cleveland and Phoenix (both at 0.9%). On an annual basis, 12 of the 20 metro areas recorded higher prices, with the biggest hikes in Chicago (4.4%) and Cleveland (4%), followed closely by New York (3.8%). The deepest pullbacks were in West region markets: Las Vegas (-7.2%), Phoenix (-6.6%), San Francisco (-6.2%) and Seattle (-5.5%).