Home prices in U.S. hit record high, erasing recent decline

Home prices in the U.S. climbed to a record high as the market bounces back.

A national gauge of prices rose for a sixth straight month, increasing 0.6% in July from June, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller. So far this year, the national measure has climbed 5.3%.

In Spokane, the median price for a home was $420,000 in August compared to $415,000 in August 2022, according to Spokane Realtors.

Listings were down 12% percent year-over-year and the inventory of homes for sale was 1,080 units, which equates to a two-month supply, or how long it would take to sell all the homes on the market.

Nationally, this year’s gains have offset the 5% decline in prices from last year’s peak in June 2022 to January , when the market was slowing.

The index measures a period where mortgage rates started to push back up toward 7%.

Many owners are reluctant to put their homes on the market at a time of high borrowing costs, leaving buyers to fight over a limited supply of homes listed for sale.

The number of homes up for resale in August was down 7.9% from a year earlier, according to Realtor.com.

“Buyer demand continues to outmatch housing supply, creating upward pressure on home prices despite the fact that home purchase costs are taking up an outsize share of household incomes,” Realtor.com’s Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a statement.

High borrowing costs are also denting sales for new homes, which dropped in August to a five-month low, government data showed Tuesday.

On a year-over-year basis, home prices nationally increased 1%, according to the S&P CoreLogic index. Prices were flat in June.

Chicago, Cleveland and New York posted the biggest annual gains in a 20-city measure of prices in July.

Las Vegas and Phoenix were the worst performers, with declines of 7.2% and 6.6%, respectively.