Home prices inched up on a national level in February, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index. However, eight of the 20 major metro markets analyzed reported lower prices on a year-over-year basis in February.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 2% annual gain in February, down from 3.7% growth in the previous month.
“After over half a year of consecutive declines, home prices slightly ticked up in February on a month-over-month basis. Despite the climb from last month, prices continued their year-over-year moderation, now sitting just 2% above the same month in 2022,” says Nik Scoolis, manager, housing economics, for Zonda. “[It is] important to note that Case-Shiller is a lagging indicator, and the collection period does not include either the recent uptick in demand in the new-home market or the commercial banking troubles seen in March.”
The 10-City Composite and 20-City Composite both posted 0.4% growth on a year-over-year basis, down from 2.5% and 2.6% growth in January, respectively.
“The moderation we observed nationally is also apparent at a more granular level,” says Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Before seasonal adjustment, prices rose in 12 cities in February. Seasonally adjusted data showed nine cities with rising prices in February. With or without seasonal adjustment, most cities’ February results showed improvement relative to their January counterparts.”
Miami (+10.8%), Tampa, Florida, (+7.7%), and Atlanta (+6.6%) reported the highest year-over-year gains in prices among the 20 analyzed cities in February. All 20 analyzed cities reported lower prices in the year ending February versus the year ending January.
“Results were different in the Pacific and Mountain time zones,” Lazzara says. “Last month, four West Coast cities (San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego, and Portland, Oregon) were in negative year-over-year territory. In February, they were joined by four of their Western neighbors, as Las Vegas (-2.6%), Phoenix (-2.1%), Los Angeles (-1.3%), and Denver (-1.2%) all tipped into negative territory. It’s unsurprising that the Southeast (+7.8%) remains the country’s strongest region, while the West (-4.2%) continues as the weakest.”
Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a 0.2% month-over-month increase in February, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted increases of 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.
This article originally appeared in Builderonline.com.
