Case-Shiller: Housing Price Gains at Slow Pace

The index tracks prices on a three-month rolling average. April represents the three-month average of February, March and April prices.

Average home prices for April are back at their levels in the summer of 2004.

Compared with their peak in the summer of 2006, home prices on both indexes remain down about 18% to 19%. Since the low of March 2012, home prices are up 25% to 26% on both the 10-city and 20-city indexes.

Compared with year-ago increases of 30% in some cities, no U.S. city posted a price hike of more than 20%, with Las Vegas gaining 18.8%, Los Angeles up 14%, Phoenix up 9.8%, San Diego up 15.3%,and San Francisco up 18.2%.

The chairman of the S&P index committee said:

Although home prices rose in April, the annual gains weakened. Overall, prices are rising month-to-month but at a slower rate. … Near term economic factors favor further gains in housing: mortgage rates are lower than a year ago, the Fed is expected to keep interest rates steady until mid-2015 and the labor market is improving. However, housing is not back to normal: prices are being supported by cash sales, low inventories and declining foreclosure and REO sales. First time home buyers are not back in force and qualifying for a mortgage remains challenging. The question is whether housing will bounce back before the Fed begins to tighten sometime next year.

Another housing data point released Tuesday morning comes from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA). The agency’s monthly house price index remained flat in April, compared with March. In March, the index rose 0.7% month-over-month. The consensus estimate called for a rise of 0.5% in the April index.

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