Economists expect that home prices notched another month of gains in August. Higher mortgage rates could tamp down such increases—or contribute to declines—in the coming months.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for August are expected at 9 a.m. on Tuesday. Consensus expects that home prices in 20 of the nation’s large cities increased a seasonally-adjusted 0.6% from one month prior, and were up 1.6% from August 2022, according to FactSet.
But further headwinds could be brewing as mortgage rates remain near 8%. S&P Dow Jones Indices Managing Director Craig J. Lazzara last month characterized July’s reading as “consistent with an optimistic view of future results”—but added that “the market’s gains could be truncated by increases in mortgage rates or by general economic weakness.”
On a year-over-year basis, the 20-city index is expected to post the largest gain since January. But such an anticipated increase likely has more to do with last year’s second-half home price slump than strength in home prices today. Prices measured by the 20-city index peaked in June 2022 and slid in the months that followed as mortgage rates rose, making for easier comparisons in the second half of 2023.
Case-Shiller’s month-over-month gains may be a better indication of more current home price trends. The index’s lagging nature means that the full impact from the recent rise in mortgage rates won’t be reflected in this month’s data release. At 0.6%, the expected monthly increase in the 20-city index would be higher than average, but the slowest seasonally-adjusted gain since March.
Mortgage rates could add to what’s typically a cool-season slump in home prices, CoreLogic Chief Economist Selma Hepp said in a Monday statement. “Although housing prices have increased significantly this year, climbing 5% from the early-year low, higher mortgage rates and seasonal trends will slow further monthly gains—with some possible declines in winter months,” Hepp said.
The outlook for home prices hinges on how buyer demand holds up in relation to supply in a particularly unusual housing market. Both buyers and sellers have bowed out as higher mortgage rates have made buying a home more expensive—a dynamic that has driven some buyers still in the market to newly built homes as homeowners remain reluctant to give up their low mortgage rates.
“Inventory remains tight, which hinders sales but keeps home prices elevated,” Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said last week. Home prices in September, the most recent month for which data is available, increased 2.8% from one year prior, while sales dropped to the lowest level in nearly 13 years. The trade group expects that price gains will decelerate through the end of the year and into next, before dropping 0.1% in the second quarter, according to a forecast published last week.
Write to Shaina Mishkin at shaina.mishkin@dowjones.com
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