US Home-Price Growth Cools as FHFA and Case-Shiller Indexes Fall

U.S. home-price appreciation continued to lose steam in June, according to two widely watched gauges released Tuesday. The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s seasonally adjusted purchase-only House Price Index slipped 0.2% from May, matching the prior month’s drop, while annual growth slowed to 2.6% from 2.8%. The agency’s broader House Price Purchase Index was flat in the second quarter after a 0.7% rise in the first three months of the year. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-City Composite likewise showed month-over-month softening, falling 0.25% versus a 0.34% decline in May. Year-over-year, prices in the 20 major metropolitan areas rose 2.1%, down from 2.8% previously. Nationwide, the Case-Shiller measure registered a 1.9% annual gain, also slower than the prior reading. The cooling in real-estate values comes as higher mortgage rates and stretched affordability weigh on demand. Separately, Redbook data showed same-store retail sales rising 6.5% from a year earlier last week, suggesting consumer spending remains resilient even as the housing market moderates.