The S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index recorded a 0.84% annual gain in April, accelerating from 0.73% in March, according to data released this week. The 10-City composite rose 1.77% and the 20-City composite gained 1.14%, both exceeding the national figure. Chicago led all metros with 6.52% annual growth, followed by New York at 3.82% and Cleveland at 3.18%. Los Angeles and San Francisco posted the sharpest acceleration, gaining 1.2 and 1.0 percentage points respectively. Seattle remained the weakest performer, down 2.26% annually, though that improved from March's 2.48% decline.
Premium properties drove the bulk of the monthly momentum. Across all tracked markets, monthly price changes averaged 0.74% for the low tier, 0.90% for the medium tier and 1.15% for the high tier. Boston posted the broadest gains across every segment, rising 2.37% in its low tier, 1.40% in the medium tier and 1.15% in the high tier. Phoenix lagged significantly, with high-tier growth of just 0.02%. "Home prices are shaking off a sluggish start, with a majority of cities shifting into a higher gear compared to last month," said Molly Boesel, principal economist at Cotality. "The most notable trend is the deep divide between tiers: premium properties are sprinting ahead and driving the bulk of the monthly momentum, while heavy affordability pressures keep entry-level buyers stuck in the starting blocks."
Despite the acceleration, April's monthly price gains remained below historical norms. National prices rose 0.8% month over month, trailing the 1.0% average recorded for April between 2015 and 2019. Chicago posted the strongest monthly growth among metros at 1.55%, ahead of its historical April average of 1.19%. San Francisco added 1.51% and Seattle 1.24%, though both still lagged their pre-pandemic norms of 1.55% and 2.14%. Phoenix broke from the seasonal pattern entirely, slipping 0.04% against a typical April gain of 0.80%.
Realtor.com's June data, reflecting more current market conditions, painted a contrasting picture. The median national list price held at $430,000, unchanged from May but down 2.5% from a year earlier, marking the eighth consecutive month of annual declines. Price per square foot fell 2.1% year over year, and the share of listings with a price cut stood at 18.8%, down 1.9 percentage points annually. At the same time, pending sales rose 3.7% year over year, extending a growth streak to seven months, the longest such run since December 2020 to June 2021. Contract cancellations for April and May sat at 6.9% of pending sales, modestly below the 7.3% rate from a year earlier.
"Eight straight months of falling prices and seven straight months of rising pending sales are not a contradiction," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. "Sellers are reading market conditions and are pricing accordingly from the start rather than listing high and cutting later, and buyers are taking note and making bids. This is a welcome sign that we are in a functioning market." Homes also sold at a faster pace, with the typical property spending 53 days on the market in June, identical to a year earlier, ending a 26-month run in which homes consistently took longer to sell than the prior year.
Regional disparities have widened since national list prices peaked at $449,000 in June 2022. Prices have fallen 7.3% in the West and 3.5% in the South since that peak, while the Midwest is up 10% and the Northeast has climbed 12.6% over the same period. Among the top 50 metro areas, prices are down in 28 markets and up in 22 since the 2022 high. "The two Americas story in housing is now four years in the making," said Jake Krimmel, senior economist at Realtor.com. "In the West and South, prices gave ground back as affordability limits were tested. In the Midwest and Northeast, supply stayed tight enough and demand strong enough that prices kept climbing even through a historic rate shock."
Year-over-year list prices fell 4.0% in the West and 2.5% in the South in June, while the Northeast slipped just 1.0% and the Midwest was flat. Per-square-foot prices rose in the Midwest and Northeast while continuing to decline in the South and West. Austin, Texas posted the steepest per-square-foot decline among major metros at 8.2%, followed by Memphis at 6.0% and Buffalo at 5.2%. Providence, Indianapolis and New York saw the largest gains, up 8.7%, 4.9% and 3.4% respectively.
Active listings reached 1,102,615 in June, up 4.1% from May and 1.9% from a year earlier, though annual growth decelerated from 2.2% the previous month. Supply remains 11.3% below typical 2017 to 2019 levels, a slightly wider shortfall than May's 10.4% gap. New listings rose 2.4% annually to 463,480, driven largely by a 12.6% jump in the Northeast. Delistings fell nearly 10% year over year and now account for roughly 5% of active inventory. For advisors, the diverging trends across price tiers and regions underscore the importance of granular market analysis when advising clients on real estate allocations, particularly as alternatives proficiency grows and wealthy clients shift to private markets.
