US house price growth eases in December - S&P/Case-Shiller
US house price growth eased back in December, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.
The 20-city index was up 4.2% on the year, slowing down from 4.6% growth the month before and missing expectations for 4.5% growth.
Las Vegas, Phoenix and Atlanta reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. Las Vegas led the way with an 11.4% year-over-year price increase, followed by Phoenix with an 8% rise and Atlanta with a 5.9% increase.
Meanwhile, the national home price NSA index covering all nine US census divisions was 4.7% higher on the year, down from 5.1% in November.
David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: "The annual rate of price increases continues to fall. Even at the reduced pace of 4.7% per year, home prices continue to outpace wage gains of 3.5% to 4% and inflation of about 2%. A decline in interest rates in the fourth quarter was not enough to offset the impact of rising prices on home sales.
"Regional patterns continue to shift. Seattle and Portland, OR experienced the fastest price increases of any city from late 2016 to the spring of 2018; in December, they ranked 11th and 16th. Currently, the cities with the fastest price increases are Las Vegas and Phoenix. These are a reminder of how prices rose and collapsed in the financial crisis 12 years ago. Despite their recent gains, Las Vegas and Phoenix are the furthest below their 2006 peaks of any city followed in the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices."