Chicago, Cleveland, and New York are the cities with the largest increases.
EFE
Home prices in the top 20 U.S. cities rose 0.9% in July, compared to the previous month, according to data from the S&P Dow Jones Case Shiller index released Tuesday.
The index also indicated that house prices in the top 20 metropolitan markets in the United States rose slightly, by 0.1% in the past 12 months, with Chicago, Cleveland and New York showing the largest increases.
According to the document, the price increase was due to a shortage of homes for sale during the summer months. The release of the data coincided with a drop in U.S. consumer expectations.
According to The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index released Tuesday, Americans' expectations fell to 103.0 in September after standing at 108.7 in August.
The confidence index uses the level recorded in 1985 as a reference point (100 points) and is based on a survey conducted periodically among 5,000 American households.
This marks the second consecutive month of decline in the index. According to Dana Peterson, the organization's chief economist, "consumers remain concerned about the widespread increase in prices, especially for food and gasoline.".
Also on Tuesday, an analysis by the real estate firm Zillow estimated the value of the housing market in the United States at $52 trillion, 49% more than at the start of the pandemic in February 2020.
The analysis noted that although the average value of a home in the United States increased by 0.7% since 2020, the arrival on the market of new homes that have been completed in recent months boosted the strong global rise.
"A steady stream of new homes hit the market this spring and summer, helping to ease the severe inventory shortage and boost overall market value," Zillow's chief economist, Orphe Divounguy, explained in a statement.
Meanwhile, interest rates have settled in a range of 5.25% to 5.5% following the Federal Reserve's (Fed) decision on September 20 to pause the rate hikes that began in March 2022.
- Since that month, the Fed has raised rates 11 times, from 0.25% to the current 5.25% – 5.5%.
"Despite higher mortgage rates, which deterred some buyers and kept many current homeowners waiting, there were enough buyers to keep the market moving," Divounguy said.
"Builders recognized the unmet demand and responded by starting more projects. Sales of new homes increased this year, while sales of existing homes fell," the real estate economist added.
Delinquency rates remain stable despite interest rate increase
At the same time, and despite the increase in interest rates and the rise in mortgages, the default rate has not increased and in June stood at only 2.6% of the total, according to the latest data released by the firm CoreLogic.
CoreLogic noted that the data for June 2023 compared to the same month in 2022 are virtually the same.
"Far fewer states and metropolitan areas saw year-over-year increases in delinquency than at the beginning of spring, indicating that both the employment situation and mortgage performance are on a solid trajectory for the remainder of 2023," CoreLogic on August 31.
