Steel Markets

Case Shiller Home Prices Continue to March Higher
Written by Sandy Williams
April 23, 2018
Low inventory continues to drive up home prices across the U.S. The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller National Home Price NSA Index rose 6.3 percent in March, up from 6.1 percent in February.
“Year-over-year prices measured by the National index have increased continuously for the past 70 months, since May 2012. Over that time, the price increases averaged 6 percent per year,” said David M. Blitzer, Managing Director and Chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
The 20-City index posted a 6.8 percent annual gain, compared to 6.4 percent the previous month. None of the cities on the list experienced a monthly decline in March. Inventory for entry-level homes is tightest, making it difficult for first-time buyers to find homes at affordable prices.
West Coast cities experienced some of the highest annual gains. Seattle led the 20-city Index with a 12.7 percent annual gain, followed by Las Vegas at 11.6 percent and San Francisco at 10.1 percent.
Increasing employment levels are supporting home price increases, said Blitzer. “With expectations for continued economic growth and further employment gains, the current run of rising prices is likely to continue.”
About the Index:
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, published monthly, accurately track the price path of typical single-family homes located in each metropolitan area provided. Each index combines matched price pairs for thousands of individual houses from the available arms-length sales data. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index tracks the value of single-family housing within the United States. The index is a composite of single-family home price indices for the nine U.S. Census divisions and is calculated quarterly. The 10- and 20-city indices are value-weighted averages of the metro area indices.

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
Glenfarne Alaska LNG and POSCO ink preliminary partnership
Glenfarne Alaska LNG and POSCO signed a preliminary strategic agreement during the GasTech Conference in Milan on Thursday.

Steel export volumes remain weak through July
Following a 3% decline in June, the amount of steel shipped outside of the US edged up 1% in July to 623,000 short tons. July was the sixth-lowest monthly export rate since the COVID-19 pandemic, and...

Hot-rolled market participants say ‘doldrums’ to roll on through year-end
Participants in the hot-rolled steel sheet market expect the market to remain subdued through the end of the year.

Market says cutting interest rates will spur stalled domestic plate demand
Market sources say demand for domestic plate refuses to budge despite stagnating prices.

Great Lakes iron ore shipments declined in August
Shipments of iron ore across the Great Lakes dropped to 5 million short tons (st) in August, according to the latest data from the Lake Carriers’ Association. That’s down 9.1% compared to August 2024 and 2% lower than the month’s 5-year average. All told, the year-to-date (YTD) iron ore volumes through August totaled 26.7 million […]