The coronavirus finally slows down the growth of house prices in the US.


The new coronavirus has finally slowed the growth of house prices in the US.

Standard & Poor’s said Tuesday that its national S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller home price index posted an annual gain of 4.5% in May, up from 4.6% the previous month. The 20-city composite posted an annual gain of 3.7%, down from 3.9% in April. As in March and April, the 20-city Compound did not include transactions for Wayne County, Michigan, due to delays at its local registry office caused by the closure of COVID-19. The results omit BofA Global Research’s estimate of an annual gain of 4.9% for the national index and an annual gain of 4.1% for the composite of 20 cities.

“May’s house price data was flat,” said Craig J. Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a press release. “In contrast to the last eight months, May’s earnings were lower than April’s. Although prices increased in May, in other words, they did so at a slowdown rate. Obviously, more data will be needed to know whether May’s report represents a reversal of the previous trajectory of price acceleration or simply a slight deviation from an intact trend. ”

For the twelfth consecutive month, Phoenix led the 20-city composite with an annual gain of 9%. Seattle and Tampa continued to report an annual profit of 6.8% and 6%, respectively.

“We observed similar development at the city level: prices increased in the 19 cities for which we have data, but they accelerated in only 3 of them (in contrast to 12 cities last month and 18 the previous month),” Lazzara said. .

The Prado condo development is seen in Pasadena, California on Tuesday, August 15, 2006. Demand for homes in Southern California fell sharply in July. (AP Photo / Nick Ut)

The results follow a series of positive data that reveals a recovering real estate market. In June, existing home sales recovered at a record rate, 20.7% more than in May, according to the National Association of Realtors. Last week, BofA highlighted five reasons why the property market has been a “bright star” in the economy as the US emerges from the virus blockade.

Lazzara notes that “even if prices continue to slow down, that is quite different from an environment where prices actually decrease.”

The National Association of Real Estate Agents (NAR) reported last week that the median price of existing housing for all types of housing in June was $ 295,300, 3.5% more than in June 2019, as prices they increased in each region, marking 100 consecutive months from one year to the next. Profits. Meanwhile, inventory remained depressed in June, totaling 1.57 million units, 1.3% more than in May, but still 18.2% less than a year ago.

“Home prices increased during the shutdown and could increase further due to strong competition from buyers and a significant shortage of supply,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist at NAR, said in a press release, noting that an inventory Significantly low was a problem even before the pandemic. and that such circumstances can lead to inflated costs.