Home Price Rose More Than 4% Prior to COVID-19

Home prices rose annually 4.2% in February—an increase from January’s 3.9% rise—according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index. 

The 10-City Composite increase was 2.9%, which is a slight increase from 2.6% in January. The increase for the 20-City Composite recorded a 3.5% year-over-year gain—up from 3.1% from the prior month. 

Phoenix; Seattle; Tampa Bay; and Charlotte led the nation with the highest annual gains among the 20 cities. 

In February, Phoenix led the way with a 7.5% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle with a 6.0% increase, and Tampa and Charlotte with 5.2% increase. 

Seventeen of the 20 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending February 2020 versus the year ending January 2020. 

Danielle Hale, Chief Economist at realtor.com, said the latest data from CoreLogic and S&P “demonstrates the long delay” between when this data was collected—a time when home sales were hitting 13-year highs—and when it was released. 

“Today's coronavirus-impacted housing market is very different,” she said. “Weekly asking price data shows that sellers are getting much less aggressive which has led to declines in new listings and kept asking prices flat. Looking forward, we expect a similar slowdown ahead for the Case-Shiller price metric.”

Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American Financial Corporation, said on Twitter that First American’s preliminary index found home-price growth was accelerating prior to the shutdown. 

Kushi, however, noted, “don't expect declining house prices, as sellers often withdraw supply rather than sell at lower prices.”

A recent report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found sellers aren’t budging when it comes to lowering home prices, as nearly 75% of NAR realtors have reported that sellers are not lowering their prices.  

This choice to stay the course signals to NAR that sellers remain confident in the face of COVID-19. What many experts would assume would be a time wracked with panic selling due to the uncertainty of the economy and unknowns of the future, such resolve, and apparent optimism has come as a surprise to some, and a refreshing glimmer of hope to others.