In all 20 U.S. cities included in the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index, December house prices increased year over year, and 12 of 20 posted a month-over-month increase. Portland (up 11.4%), San Francisco (up 10.3%) and Denver (up 10.2%) posted the largest year-over-year gains. Chicago and Minneapolis (both down 0.4%) posted the largest price declines compared with November.

Other cities posting a month-over-month price decline were Miami (0.3%), New York (0.3%), Boston (0.2%), San Francisco (0.2%), Cleveland (0.1%) and Washington, D.C. (0.1%).

The smallest year-over-year gains came in Washington, D.C. (1.7%), Chicago (2.4%) and Cleveland (2.8%). Month over month, Atlanta and Denver prices were flat, while prices rose most in San Diego (0.7%) and Phoenix (0.5%).

The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index for December increased by 5.7% year over year for the 20-city composite index and by 5.1% for the 10-city composite index. The national index rose 5.4% year over year, up from an increase of 5.2% in November. The consensus estimate for the year-over-year 20-city index called for growth of 5.9%.

Month over month, the 20-City index remained flat, while the national index rose by 0.1%. The 10-city index was down 0.1% month over month. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the 10-city index rose 0.9% and the 20-city index rose 1% from November to December. All 20 cities reported increases in November after seasonal adjustment.

The index tracks prices on a three-month rolling average. December represents the three-month average of October, November and December prices.

Average home prices for November remain comparable to their levels in the winter of 2007.

The chairman of the S&P index committee said:

While home prices continue to rise, the pace is slowing a bit. … Even with some moderation, home prices in all but one city are rising faster than the 2.2% year-over-year increase in the CPI core rate of inflation.

Sparked by the stock market’s turmoil since the beginning of the year, some are concerned that the current economic expansion is aging quite rapidly. The recovery is six years old, but recoveries do not typically die of old age. Housing construction, like much of the economy, got off to a slow start in 2009-2010 and is only now beginning to show some serious strength.

Compared with their peak in the summer of 2006, home prices on both 10-city and 20-city indexes remain down about 11% to 13%. Since the low of March 2012, home prices are up 34.7% and 36.3% on the 10-city and 20-city indexes, respectively.

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