Home Prices Rise at a Slower Rate in May

On a month-over-month basis, the National Index rose 0.7 percent while the 10- and 20-city composites increased 0.3 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively.

“May’s housing price data were stable,” says Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. “In contrast with the past eight months, May’s gains were less than April’s. Although prices increased in May, in other words, they did so at a decelerating rate. We observed an analogous development at the city level; prices increased in all 19 cities for which we have data but accelerated in only 3 of them (in contrast with 12 cities last month and 18 the month before that).

“More data will obviously be required in order to know whether May’s report represents a reversal of the previous path of accelerating prices or merely a slight deviation from an otherwise intact trend. Even if prices continue to decelerate, that is quite different from an environment in which prices actually decline,” he added.