Steel Markets
Home Price Gains Continue to Cool
Written by Sandy Williams
June 26, 2019
Home price gains continued to weaken in April, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The National Home Price NSA index gained 3.5 percent year-over-year compared to 3.7 percent the previous month. The 20-City composite was nearly flat with March, down 0.1 percent to post a 2.5 percent gain. Annual growth has slowed in each of the last 13 months.
Among the 20 cities surveyed, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Tampa reported the highest year-over-year gains at 7.2 percent, 6.0 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively. Nine of the 20 cities reported greater price increases in the year ending April 2019 versus the year ending March 2019.
“Home price gains continued in a trend of broad-based moderation,” says Philip Murphy, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Governance at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “Year-over-year price gains remain positive in most cities, though at diminishing rates of change. Seattle is a notable exception, where the YOY change has decreased from 13.1 percent in April 2018 to 0.0 percent in April 2019.”
Affordability still is a concern for buyers despite lower mortgage rates. Additionally, housing inventory is on an upward trend, suggesting weaker demand, he added.
“Perhaps the trend for the moment is toward normalization around the real long-run average annual price increase,” said Murphy. “Comparing the YOY National Index nominal change of 3.5 percent to April’s inflation rate of 2.0 percent yields a real house price change of 1.5 percent – edging closer to the real long-run average of 1.2 percent cited by [S&P Chairman] David Blitzer last month.”
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Markets
Drilling activity slows in US but picks up steam in Canada
Oil and gas drilling in the US slowed for a third consecutive week, while activity in Canada hovered just shy of the 19-week high reached two weeks prior.
SMU Survey: Buyers remain leery of tariffs, but more see reshoring happening
This week’s SMU survey reveals that a growing number of steel market participants are weary of tariffs and are awaiting evidence of progress reshoring. At the start of 2025, now-second-term President, Donald Trump, pronounced that his plan to implement tariffs would result in increased revenue for the US.
Hot-rolled coil market remains slow, market participants say
Hot rolled spot market participants reported another week of moderate demand and ample supply, with no strong signs that conditions will change next week.
Plate prices slip even as mills officially keep tags unchanged
US plate market participants are not fazed by the constricted nature of the current spot market pricing environment. Right now, they said, mill’s choosing to hold prices from one month to the next makes sense because service centers remain amply supplied and demand is stable. Modest upticks or slips in prices are aligned with most of the participants' expectations right now.
Still no cure for the summertime HR market blues
Seasonal steel slowdowns combined with ongoing anxieties about tariffs and mill strategies have dampened sentiment for several hot-rolled steel market participants this week. Buyers are jittery, market stands still The operator of a Midwest-based service center said that steel buyers are scared. “Everyone is afraid to buy steel right now. Unless you’re on a […]