Home Price Gains in 20 U.S. Cities Slow for 7th Month

Economists watch the year-on-year gauge to better track trends, which show home-price have been outpacing wages. Price gains taking a breather would be especially attractive for younger buyers or those purchasing a house for the first time; however, softer price gains also mean smaller advances in homeowner equity for others.

“The combination of higher mortgage rates and higher home prices rising faster than incomes and wages means fewer people can afford to buy a house,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. “Reduced affordability is slowing sales of both new and existing single family homes. Sales peaked in November 2017 and have drifted down since then.”

All 20 cities in the index showed year-over-year gains, led by a 12.8 percent increase in Las Vegas and almost 8 percent increases in both San Francisco and Phoenix. The weakest gains were in Washington, which rose 2.9 percent on year, Chicago, which climbed 3.3 percent, and New York, up 3.1 percent