S&P Dow Jones Indices today released the latest results for the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices. Data released today for March 2021 show that home prices continue to increase across the U.S. and Phoenix leads the way with the highest year-over-year home price increase.

More than 27 years of history are available for the data series, and can be accessed in full by going to https://www.spglobal.com/spdji/.

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Year-over-year home price increase

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 13.2% annual gain in March, up from 12.0% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 12.8%, up from 11.7% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite posted a 13.3% year-over-year gain, up from 12.0% in the previous month.

Phoenix, San Diego, and Seattle reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities in March. Phoenix led the way with a 20.0% year-over-year price increase, followed by San Diego with a 19.1% increase and Seattle with a 18.3% increase. All 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending March 2021 versus the year ending February 2021.

Month-over-month

Before seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a 2.0% month-over-month increase, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 2.0% and 2.2% respectively in March.

After seasonal adjustment, the U.S. National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 1.5%, and the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted increases of 1.4% and 1.6% respectively. In March, all 20 cities reported increases before and after seasonal adjustments.

Analysis

“Housing prices continued to rise robustly in March 2021,” says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI. “The National Composite Index marked its tenth consecutive month of accelerating prices with a 13.2% gain from year-ago levels, up from 12.0% in February. This acceleration is also reflected in the 10- and 20-City Composites (up 12.8% and 13.3%, respectively). The market’s strength is broadly-based: all 20 cities rose, and all 20 gained more in the 12 months ended in March than they had gained in the 12 months ended in February.

“More than 30 years of S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data put these results into historical context. The National Composite’s 13.2% gain was last exceeded more than 15 years ago in December 2005, and lies very comfortably in the top decile of historical performance. The unusual strength is reflected across all 20 cities; March’s price gains in every city are above that city’s median level, and rank in the top quartile of all reports in 19 cities.

“These data are consistent with the hypothesis that COVID has encouraged potential buyers to move from urban apartments to suburban homes. This demand may represent buyers who accelerated purchases that would have happened anyway over the next several years. Alternatively, there may have been a secular change in preferences, leading to a permanent shift in the demand curve for housing. More time and data will be required to analyze this question.

“Phoenix’s 20.0% increase led all cities for the 22nd consecutive month, with San Diego (+19.1%) and Seattle (+18.3%) close behind. Although prices were strongest in the West (+15.1%) and Southwest (+14.8%), every region logged double-digit gains.”