Home prices climbed again in the month of March, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index (CS)
- Y-O-Y: Home prices jumped 13.2% in March. This is up from the 12% it reported in April.
- M-O-M: The Case-Shiller Index showed a 2.0% gain in home prices just from last month.
Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P DJI, said in a statement, “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…”
Robert Shiller, the co-founder of the index, told CNBC on Friday, “In real terms, the home prices have never been so high. My data goes back over 100 years, so this is something…I don’t think that the whole thing is explained by central bank policy. There is something about the sociology of markets that’s happening.” (CNBC)
- Shiller went on to argue that he sees home prices falling within the next five years. ““If you go out three or five years, I could imagine they’d [prices] be substantially lower than they are now, and maybe that’s a good thing…”