S&P/Case-Shiller released the monthly Home Price Indices for August ("August" is a 3 month average of June, July and August prices).



This release includes prices for 20 individual cities, two composite indices (for 10 cities and 20 cities) and the monthly National index.



Note: Case-Shiller reports Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA), I use the SA data for the graphs.



From S&P: Annual Gains Fall Below 6% for the First Time in 12 Months According to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index



The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 5.8% annual gain in August, down from 6.0% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 5.1%, down from 5.5% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 5.5% year-over-year gain, down from 5.9% in the previous month.



Las Vegas, San Francisco and Seattle reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In August, Las Vegas led the way with a 13.9% year-over-year price increase, followed by San Francisco with a 10.6% increase and Seattle with a 9.6% increase. Four of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending August 2018 versus the year ending July 2018.

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Before seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a month-over-month gain of 0.2% in August. The 10-City and 20-City Composites did not report any gains for the month. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index recorded a 0.6% month-over-month increase in August. The 10-City Composite and the 20-City Composite both posted 0.1% month-over-month increases. In August, 12 of 20 cities reported increases before seasonal adjustment, while 17 of 20 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.



“Following reports that home sales are flat to down, price gains are beginning to moderate,” says David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Comparing prices to their levels a year earlier, 14 of the 20 cities, the National Index plus the 10-city and 20-city Composite Indices all show slower price growth. The seasonally adjusted monthly data show that 10 cities experienced declining prices. Other housing data tell a similar story: prices and sales of new single family homes are weakening, housing starts are mixed and residential fixed investment is down in the last three quarters. Rising prices may be pricing some potential home buyers out of the market, especially when combined with mortgage rates approaching 5% for 30-year fixed rate loans.



“There are no signs that the current weakness will become a repeat of the crisis, however. In 2006, when home prices peaked and then tumbled, mortgage default rates bottomed out and started a three year surge. Today, the mortgage default rates reported by the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices are stable. Without a collapse in housing finance like the one seen 12 years ago, a crash in home prices is unlikely.”

emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

The first graph shows the nominal seasonally adjusted Composite 10, Composite 20 and National indices (the Composite 20 was started in January 2000).The Composite 10 index is off 0.8% from the bubble peak, and up 0.1% in August (SA).The Composite 20 index is 2.4% above the bubble peak, and up 0.1% (SA) in August.The National index is 10.4% above the bubble peak (SA), and up 0.6% (SA) in August. The National index is up 49.3% from the post-bubble low set in December 2011 (SA). The second graph shows the Year over year change in all three indices.The Composite 10 SA is up 5.1% compared to August 2017. The Composite 20 SA is up 5.5% year-over-year.The National index SA is up 5.8% year-over-year.Note: According to the data, prices increased in 17 of 20 cities month-over-month seasonally adjusted.I'll have more later.