Dive Brief:
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Home prices in August were 5.6% higher than they were during the same month last year, marking the slightest year-over-year gain for any month in two years.
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That compares with a 6.7% gain from July 2013 to July 2014, and double-digit year-over-year gains during most months in 2013 and 2014, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller 20-City Index of home prices.
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Miami prices showed the greatest year-over-year gain, while Las Vegas suffered the greatest decline in average home prices. Still, annual gains in 19 of the 20 cities in the survey fell in August. The lone exception: Cleveland.
Dive Insight:
That the upward pace of home prices has slowed could be a good sign for the housing recovery, economists say. "In housing, boring is better," David Blitzer, chairman of an S&P Index Committee, told USA Today. "As appreciation cools and more inventory comes on line, buyers will start to gain a more competitive advantage, after years of sellers being in the driver's seat. More sedate home value growth, coupled with interest rates that remain incredibly low, will also help housing stay affordable, which is critical to drawing in the next generation of younger, first-time buyers that had been sitting on the sidelines."