Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Increase Faster Than Forecast

Key points:
- 20-city property values index increased 5.4% from March 2015 (forecast was 5.16%) after climbing 5.4% in the year through February.
- National home-price gauge rose 5.2% from 12 months earlier.
- On a monthly basis, seasonally adjusted 20-city measure advanced 0.9% from February, the same as the unadjusted gain and the most in four months.
“The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates,” David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. “Another factor behind rising home prices is the limited supply of homes on the market.”
More details:
- All 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year gain, led by a 12.3% advance in Portland, Oregon, and 10.8% in Seattle.
- After seasonal adjustment, Minneapolis had the biggest month-over-month gain at 1.3%; Cleveland had a decline of 0.1%.