House Prices Still Rising at Record Pace

Those looking for a change of pace in home prices are out of luck, as it’s much the same as it has been for many months now: house prices continue increasing at a record-breaking pace.

According to a new report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the latest version of the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, house prices rose by at least 19% in July 2021 over the same month last year. That rate of increase is a record high.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, which covers all nine Census divisions, showed a 19.7% annual gain in July, up from 18.7% in the previous month.

In some cities, house prices rose by much more than that. According to the S&P Case-Shiller report, Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle all saw the highest annual price gains in July. Per the report, house prices in Phoenix rose by 32.4% in one year, followed by San Diego with a 27.8% increase, and Seattle with a 25.5% increase.

"July 2021 is the fourth consecutive month in which the growth rate of housing prices set a record," said Craig Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI. “The last several months have been extraordinary not only in the level of price gains, but in the consistency of gains across the country.”

In fact, the increases have led to house prices in 19 of the 20 biggest housing markets in the U.S. climbing to all-time highs. According to Lazzara, New York joined Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, and Seattle in recording their all-time highest 12-month gains.

The FHFA report showed much of the same, registering a 19.2% annual increase in home prices in July.

"Record appreciation rates for the U.S. continued in July," said Lynn Fisher, FHFA's Deputy Director of the Division of Research and Statistics. "Although the monthly pace of increase slowed in most Census Divisions in July, four areas experienced year over year growth rates in excess of 20% and all saw annual gains in excess of 15%."