Case-Shiller Index: Home prices up 4.8% in July!

Home prices saw a 4.8% annual gain in July, according to the latest report from the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices.

That’s up from June’s annual gain of 4.3%, with year-over-year gains accelerating in July after two months of staying essentially unchanged. July’s yearly increase represents the fastest rate of growth since November 2018, a jump reflecting what CoreLogic deputy chief economist Selma Hepp called a “perfect storm” in the housing market.

“Slow homebuying activity in April and May (critical months during home-buying season) while stay-at-home orders were in place, bounced back in July,” Hepp wrote on CoreLogic’s blog. “This [led] to a notable increase in the number of home purchase contracts signed and outpaced last July’s levels of home sales.

“Nevertheless, while buyers were coming out in droves, motivated by record-low mortgage rates and the need for more space, many sellers opted to not put their homes on the market, leading to historically low levels of for-sale inventory. The convergence of these factors allowed for home price growth to continue strong acceleration despite the economy facing continued uncertainty and high levels of unemployment.”