Home prices continued to rise in June, Case-Shiller index finds

Home-price appreciation continued at a steady clip in June as many states began reopening businesses from shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a major price barometer released Tuesday. But recent data suggests price appreciation should gain steam in the latter half of the year.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city price index posted a 3.5% year-over-year gain in June, down from 3.% the previous month. On a monthly basis, the index increased 0.2% between May and June.

The separate national index released with the report noted a 4.3% increase in home prices across the country over the past year, unchanged from the rate of price growth in May.

Phoenix continued to lead the all other markets nationwide with a 9% annual price gain in May, followed by Seattle with a 6.5% increase and Tampa, Fla., with a 5.9% uptick. “As has been the case for the last several months, prices were particularly strong in the Southeast and West, and comparatively weak in the Midwest and (especially) Northeast,” Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, wrote in the report.

Overall, the pace of price growth increased in five of the 19 cities Case-Shiller analyzed — the 20-city list again didn’t include Detroit this month because transaction records for Wayne County, Mich., were unavailable, the report noted.