The numbers: Home prices in the 20 biggest U.S. metros rose for the seventh month in a row and hit a record high, reflecting a persistent shortage of properties for sale.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city house price index moved up an unadjusted 0.2% in September compared to the previous month. The index crested to the highest level since it was created in the late 1980s.
Home prices in the 20 major U.S. metro markets were up 3.9% in the past 12 months ending in September. The August report saw a 2.5% rise in home prices year-over-year.
A broader measure of home prices, the national index, rose in September and was also up 3.9% over the past year.
Key details: Detroit posted the biggest year-over-year increase in home prices in September. Prices were up 6.7%.
Next up was San Diego, with a 6.5% increase, New York at 6.3% and Chicago at 6%.
Three of the 20 major metros posted declines in home prices compared to a year ago: Portland, Phoenix and Las Vegas.
In a separate report, the Federal Housing Finance Agency also showed home prices rose in September and were up 6.1% in the past year.
| Cities | Change from last year |
| Atlanta | 4.3% |
| Boston | 5.3% |
| Charlotte | 4.7% |
| Chicago | 6.0% |
| Cleveland | 5.0% |
| Dallas | 0.3% |
| Denver | 1.0% |
| Detroit | 6.7% |
| Las Vegas | -1.9% |
| Los Angeles | 5.2% |
| Miami | 5.0% |
| Minneapolis | 2.4% |
| New York | 6.3% |
| Phoenix | -1.2% |
| Portland | -0.7% |
| San Diego | 6.5% |
| San Francisco | 0.5% |
| Seattle | 0.9% |
| Tampa | 1.5% |
| Washington | 4.4% |
| Composite-20 | 3.9% |
Big picture: After a brief pause, home prices have resumed their upward climb even with mortgage rates at the highest level in decades.
While high interest rates have discouraged some buyers, there still is enough demand to keep home prices going up. Relatively few current owners — the beneficiaries of low locked-in rates — are listing their properties for sale and builders aren’t bringing enough new housing onto the market.
Unfortunately for prospective buyers, these problems are unlikely to go away anytime soon.
Looking ahead: “While supply and demand are reasonably matched, they are still both depressed, and consumers are frustrated by the state of play,” said chief economist Bill Adams of Comerica Bank in Dallas.
Market reaction: Stocks DJIA SPX fell slightly in early trading on Tuesday. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note BX:TMUBMUSD10Y was little changed at 4.4%.
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