NEW YORK – Dinged by rapidly increasing mortgage rates, home prices continue to show strong growth year-to-year but declines in month-to-month comparisons. In the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices (S&P DJI) for September, home price gains declined across the United States.

Year-over-year

The Index covers nine U.S. census divisions, and overall reported a 10.6% year-to-year gain in September, a decline from the 12.9% reported in August. The Index’s 10-City Composite came in at 9.7%, down from 12.1% in the previous month; its 20-City Composite posted 10.4% year-over-year, down from 13.1% the previous month.

However, slowing price increases aren’t as notable in Florida, and two of the nine areas tracked in the U.S., the South and the Southeast, continued to outpace the rest of the nation.

Miami, Tampa and Charlotte reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in September. Miami led the way with a 24.6% year-over-year price increase, followed by Tampa in second with a 23.8% increase. Charlotte came in a somewhat distant third with a 17.8% increase.

Still, all 20 cities – including Miami and Tampa – reported lower price increases in September 2022 than they did in August.

“As the Federal Reserve continues to move interest rates higher, mortgage financing continues to be more expensive and housing becomes less affordable. Given the continuing prospects for a challenging macroeconomic environment, home prices may well continue to weaken,” says Craig J. Lazzara, managing director at S&P DJI.

Month-over-month

Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a -1.0% month-over-month decrease in September, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted decreases of -1.4% and -1.5%, respectively.

After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month decrease of -0.8%, and the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted decreases of -1.2%.

In September, all 20 cities reported declines before and after seasonal adjustments.

“As has been the case for the past several months, our September 2022 report reflects short -term declines and medium-term deceleration in housing prices across the U.S.,” says Lazzara. “For all three composites, year-over-year gains, while still well above their historical medians, peaked roughly six months ago and have decelerated since then.

“The three best-performing cities in August repeated their performance in September. On a year-over- year basis, Miami (+24.6%) edged Tampa (+23.8%) for the top spot, with Charlotte (+17.8%) beating Atlanta (+17.1%) for third place. The Southeast (+20.8%) and South (+19.9%) were the strongest regions by far, with gains more than double those of the Northeast, Midwest, and West.”

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