The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 12% annual home price gain in February, up from 11.2% in the previous month.
The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 11.7%, up from 10.9% the previous month. The 20-City Composite annual increase came in at 11.9%, up from 11.1% the previous month.
Phoenix reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in the index, with a 17.4% YOY price increase. San Diego came in second, with a 17% increase, followed by Seattle with a 15.4% increase. Nineteen of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending February, as compared with January.
Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National index posted a 1.1% month-over-month increase. The 10-City Composite showed a 1.1% increase, while the 20-City Composite showed a 1.2% increase. This remained the same after seasonal adjustment, and all 20 cities reported price increases before and after seasonal adjustment.
“More than 30 years of S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data help us to put February’s results into historical context. The National Composite’s 12% gain is the highest recorded since February 2006, exactly 15 years ago, and lies comfortably in the top decile of historical performance,” says Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “These data remain consistent with the hypothesis that COVID has encouraged potential buyers to move from urban apartments to suburban homes. This demand may represent buyers who accelerated purchases that would have happened anyway over the next several years. Alternatively, there may have been a secular change in preferences, leading to a permanent shift in the demand curve for housing. Future data will be required to analyze this question.”
