Home prices are still notably higher than a year ago but the gains in home prices are finally starting to slow down.
Home prices increased 19.5% in September from the previous year, slightly down from a 19.8% yearly gain in August, as per S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. This is the first decline in the yearly gain since May 2020.
The 10-city composite increased 17.8% from the previous year ago, which was down from an 18.6% increase in August month. The 20-city composite increased 19.1% in comparison to the previous year, which was down from 19.6% in the month of August.
Cities with the greatest price gains were Florida, Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami.
Minneapolis, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., saw the smallest yearly price increases, but all the gains were still more than 10%.
Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices said, “If I had to choose only one word to describe September 2021′s housing price data, the word would be ‘deceleration’. Housing prices continued to show remarkable strength in September, though the pace of price increases declined slightly.”
Extremely tight inventory and heavy investor activity are keeping prices elevated in the housing market. Gains are falling but they are unlikely to drop dramatically as that of the time in the housing crash.
“The market has cooled since the beginning of the year, when dozens of competing bids, contingency waivers, and price escalation clauses made home shopping a struggle, especially for first-time buyers. A growing number of homeowners are preparing to list in the next six months, hinting at an uncharacteristically active winter season,” said George Ratiu, manager of economic research at Realtor.com.
