Home price gains continued their upward trend in January, escalating by 3.9 percent year-over-year, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index.
Home prices are up from 3.7 percent growth in December while 10 of the country’s largest cities saw 2.6 percent annual gains and the top 20 markets experienced 3.1 percent gains year-over-year.
The data does not take into account the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which remained as an afterthought for most Americans until late February and early March, according to Craig Lazzara of S&P Dow Jones Indices.
“It is important to bear in mind that today’s report covers real estate transactions closed during the month of January,” said Lazzara, managing director and global head of index Investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “The COVID-19 pandemic did not begin to take hold in the U.S. until late February, and thus whatever impact it will have on housing prices is not reflected in today’s data.”
Regionally, Phoenix held its spot as the city with the highest annual gains for the eight month in a row with 6.1 percent growth. Seattle, Tampa and San Diego all boasted annual gains of 5.1 percent.
The S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index is a monthly composite of single-family home price indices across nine U.S. Census divisions. They are calculated using estimates of the aggregate value of single-family housing stock for the time period in question.
“Home prices increased nearly every month in 2019 and continued to push upward in early 2020 with strong demand,” said Bill Banfield, executive vice president of capital markets at Quicken Loans. “It’s yet to be seen how home prices will react through, and after, the current health crisis. I suspect once the stay-at-home orders are lifted, homebuyer demand will regain its footing, provided employment rebounds quickly.”