By Nathalie Voit
Home prices surged nearly 20% in the twelve months ending in February, new data released on April 26 from S&P and CoreLogic found.
National home prices in February rose to 19.8% from 19.1% in January, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price index. February’s reading was the third highest in the index’s 35-year history, Case-Shiller said.
Other indexes also posted significant increases.
The 10-City Composite Index rose 18.6% year-over-year in February, up from 17.3% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite Index posted a 20.2% annual gain for the month, up from 18.9% in January.
Home prices appreciated the most in the Sun Belt region, with Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reporting the largest year-over-year gains at 32.9%, 32.6%, and 29.7%, respectively. Minneapolis, New York, and Washington D.C. posted the smallest annual home price gains. However, according to the press release, all 20 cities saw double-digit home price growth and accelerated relative to January’s report.
“U.S. home prices continued to advance at a very rapid pace in February,” wrote Managing Director at S&P DJI Craig J. Lazzara in the release.
“The macroeconomic environment is evolving rapidly and may not support extraordinary home price growth for much longer,” he added. “The post-COVID resumption of general economic activity has stoked inflation, and the Federal Reserve has begun to increase interest rates in response. We may soon begin to see the impact of increasing mortgage rates on home prices.”
