Economy

S&P/Case Shiller Up 13.6% YoY in October

January 1, 2014

The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed year-over-year gains of 13.6 percent in October, according to data released December 31, 2013—the largest gain since Feb. 2006.

The monthly gain for October 2013 for the 10-city and 20-city composites was 0.2 percent. In the twenty city composite, eighteen cities posted lower monthly rates in October than September indicating continued slowing of momentum.

“Home prices increased again in October,” says David M. Blitzer, Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Both Composites’ annual returns have been in double-digit territory since March 2013 and increasing; now up 13.6% in the year ending in October. However, monthly numbers show we are living on borrowed time and the boom is fading.”

Leading cities Las Vegas, San Diego and San Francisco saw smaller annual increases in October. Underperforming cities like Cleveland, New York and Washington had higher annual returns. Miami showed the most improvement while Chicago had its highest rate (+10.9 percent) since December 1988. Charlotte and Dallas returns were 8.8 percent and 9.7 percent, respectively, and the highest since their indices began.

“The key economic question facing housing is the Fed’s future course to scale back quantitative easing and how this will affect mortgage rates,” said Blitzer. “Other housing data paint a mixed picture suggesting that we may be close to the peak gains in prices. However, other economic data point to somewhat faster growth in the new year. Most forecasts for home prices point to single digit growth in 2014.”