Home Prices Heat Up in Several Cities

Home prices are heating up in several major U.S. cities, despite price increases slowing nationally, according to CNBC.

Nationally, home prices rose 3.4% annually in May, down from the 3.5% annual gain in April, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price indices. The 10-city price composite rose 2.2%, down from 2.3% the month before. The 20-city composite showed a 2.4% annual gain, down from 2.5% in April.

Home prices in some major markets have been heating up due to tight supply of homes for sale. Inventories had been rising at the start of this year but are now flat nationally and lower in some cities, compared with a year ago. Inventory is also most slim on the low end of the market, where demand is strongest.

The seven cities with home prices seeing bigger annual gains included San Diego; Washington, D.C.; Detroit; Minneapolis; Charlotte; and Cleveland.

Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in the Case Shiller Index. In May, Las Vegas saw a 6.4% annual price increase, followed by Phoenix with a 5.7% increase, and Tampa with a 5.1% increase. Seven of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending May 2019 versus the year ending April 2019.

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