Dive Brief:
- The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for June showed another slowdown in the rate at which home prices have been climbing, with the traditional 10-city and 20-city indices and the newer National Index all tapping on the brakes.
- The year-over-year price changes were 8.1% for the city composites and 6.2% for the national calculation.
- Chief Economist Stan Humphries of Zillow warned against reading the big-picture numbers as indicative of any local market's behavior, explaining that local dynamics are determining behavior, not national trends, and there can be wide variances.
Dive Insight:
Reports on the June numbers have varying degrees of negative tone, seeming to suggest that price gains should always be rising. From the opposite perspective, slowing price gains could help counter the decrease in new-home sales that was reported in July.