U.S. Home Prices Set Record With Seven-Month Streak of Gains

(Bloomberg) — Home prices in the U.S. reached a new high in August after seven straight months of gains.

A national gauge of prices increased 0.9% in August from July, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. Cities reaching all-time highs include New York, Boston, Miami and Atlanta.

Higher borrowing costs have weighed on potential buyers and limited the number of homes for sale, with owners becoming reluctant to list properties and give up lower interest rates. Tight inventory has helped push up prices.

“The year’s increase in mortgage rates has surely suppressed housing demand, but after years of very low rates, it seems to have suppressed supply even more,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in the statement Tuesday.

The lack of properties for sale has driven home prices up 5.8% year-to-date, well above the median full-year increase in more than three decades of data. On a year-over-year basis, prices nationally climbed 2.6%, compared with a 1% gain in July.

More recent data from Redfin Corp. suggests that the inventory crunch has eased slightly. In the four weeks through Oct. 22, new listings rose 0.3% from a year earlier, the first increase since July 2022.

Buyers are contending with mortgage rates that have climbed even further since August, with some measures now hovering near 8% for a 30-year, fixed loan.

“Higher mortgage rates and seasonal trends will slow further monthly gains — with some possible declines in winter months,” said Selma Hepp, chief economist at CoreLogic Inc.