Home Price Gains Drop to Slowest Pace Since Early ‘13

NEW YORK CITY—Home sale prices increased in May at their slowest pace in more than a year, S&P Dow Jones Indices said Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices rose 9.4% year-over-year for the 10-City Composite and 9.3% for the 20-City Composite, down significantly from the 10.9% and 10.8% increases reported last month. With the exception of Charlotte and Tampa, all 20 cities saw their annual rates decelerate.

“Housing has been turning in mixed economic numbers in the past few months,” says David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, who notes that May’s numbers were the lowest since February 2013. “Prices and sales of existing homes have shown improvement while construction and sales of new homes continue to lag. At the same time, the broader economy and especially employment are showing larger improvements and substantial gains.”