The latest indication that the housing market began to revive quicker than anticipated following months of negative pressure from increased interest rates was the surprise increase in home prices in February.
Prior to seasonal adjustment, the closely monitored S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Index increased by 0.2% in February compared to January. Unadjusted data for the previous month were updated to reflect a 0.6 percent fall rather than the initial estimate of a 0.5 percent decline.
The 20-City Composite Index increased 0.1 percent when seasonally adjusted, exceeding the average prediction of a decrease of 0.3 percent. A decrease of 0.4% was reported in the previous month.
The 20-City Composite increased by 0.4% from the previous year. This is less than the 12-month growth of 2.6 percent that was seen in January, but it is still more than the zero gain analysts’ predicted.
The national index had its first month-over-month rise in seven months in February, up 0.2 percent before seasonal adjustment. The 10-City index increased by 0.3%.
The 10-City Composite Index also increased by 0.4 percent as compared to a year ago, a decrease from the 2.5 percent increase in the previous month. Compared to the predicted 3.7 percent increase, the National Home Price Index increased by only 2% during the last year.
The National Composite has decreased by 4.9 percent from its peak in June. The 10-City Composite has decreased by 6% from its high. The 20-City is down 6.6% from its high.
“At a finer scale, the moderation we saw nationwide was also present.” According to Crag Lazzara, Management Director at S&P DJI, “prices increased in 12 cities in February prior to seasonal adjustment (as opposed to one in January).”
Nine cities had price increases on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from five in January.
“With or without the seasonal adjustment, most cities’ February statistics improved compared to their January counterparts,” Lazarra claimed.
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