Overview
- Case‑Shiller data released late September showed national home prices rose 1.9% year over year in July, marking a fifth straight monthly pickup in nominal terms.
- Inflation outpaced that gain so real home values fell for the 14th consecutive month, with July’s 3.4% CPI reading exceeding the 1.9% price rise.
- Financing costs tightened after the Federal Reserve’s Sept. 16 rate hike and the 30‑year mortgage rate climbed to about 7% by Sept. 24, which eroded buyers’ purchasing power.
- Pending contracts edged up 0.3% in August but remain below year‑ago levels and roughly 30% below pandemic‑era activity, even as active listings rose and the share of listings with price cuts hit a September record of about 20.8%.
- Markets are diverging by metro: Chicago showed strong annual gains while Seattle, Las Vegas and Denver lagged, and differences in index methods and seasonal timing mean short‑term readings can vary across sources.