S&P Dow
Jones Indices (S&P DJI) reported on Tuesday its Case-Shiller Home Price
Index, which tracks home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas, showed a 7.2 per
cent y-o-y soar in April, following an upwardly revised 7.5 per cent y-o-y surge
(from +7.4 per cent y-o-y) in March. This was the weakest annual gain in house prices in
three months.
Economists had forecast
an advance of 6.9 per cent y-o-y.
According to
the report, all 20 cities posted
y-o-y increases in prices in April, led by San Diego (+10.3 per cent y-o-y),
New York (+9.4 per cent y-o-y), and Chicago (+8.7 per cent y-o-y).
The S&P/Case-Shiller
U.S. National Home Price Index, which measures all nine U.S. census divisions, jumped
6.3 per cent y-o-y in April, following an unrevised 6.5 per cent y-o-y climb in the previous month.
On a m-o-m
basis, the U.S. National Index rose 1.2 per cent, and the 20-City Composite increased
1.4 per cent.
Commenting on
the latest data, Brian D. Luke, Head of Commodities, Real & Digital Assets at
S&P DJI, noted that 2024 is closely tracking the strong start observed last
year, where March and April recorded the largest rise seen before a slowdown in
the summer and fall. “Heading into summer, the market is at an all-time high,
once again testing its resilience against the historically more active time of
the year,” he added.