Home-Price Gains Weakened to 1.5% in August

Prices fell in some metropolitan areas and powered ahead in others. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Key Points

• National home prices increased 1.5% year-over-year in August, a slower rate compared to the 1.6% increase observed in July.
• Prices in 20 large U.S. metropolitan areas rose 1.6%, which was slower than July’s 1.8% gain but exceeded economists’ 1.4% expectation.
• The nationwide increase was the slowest in more than two years.

Home prices grew at the slowest clip in more than two years in August, according to S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Indices data released Tuesday, but the benefits for buyers weren’t evenly shared. Costs eased more in some cities than others.

Prices nationally increased 1.5% from one year prior, compared with a 1.6% increase in July. Prices in an index measuring changes in 20 large U.S. metros increased 1.6%, slower than July’s 1.8% gain but faster than the 1.4% economists expected, according to FactSet.

Prices fell from year-ago levels in eight of the 20 metro areas tracked, and were about flat in Los Angeles. Tampa, Fla. saw the greatest decline, with prices dropping 3.3% from August 2024. Phoenix and Miami followed, with drops of 1.7%.

Price gains were strongest in New York, Chicago, and Cleveland, with respective increases of 6.1%, 5.9%, and 4.7%.

“Markets that experienced the sharpest pandemic-era gains are now seeing the largest corrections, while more affordable metros with stable local economies are holding up better,” Nicholas Godec, S&P Dow Jones Indices’ head of fixed-income tradeables, said in a statement. “Looking ahead, the housing market appears to be finding a new equilibrium after the pandemic boom.”

The data lags behind other measures of home price growth, such as those released by the National Association of Realtors with its existing-home sales measure. The index is closely watched because of its methodology, which is designed to eliminate influence from factors like home size or type in price changes.

Markets in the sunbelt “are seeing inventory rebound more quickly and face more pronounced buyer pushback, especially where new construction adds competition,” Realtor.com senior economist Anthony Smith said in a statement. “In many of these metros, price cuts and delistings have risen sharply, signaling a slight shift in leverage toward buyers in certain areas.”

Write to Shaina Mishkin at shaina.mishkin@dowjones.com