Please note that transaction records for March and April 2020 for Wayne County, MI are unavailable due to delays at the local recording office caused by the COVID-19 lockdown. Since Wayne is the most populous county in the Detroit metro area, S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic are unable to generate a valid March and April 2020 update of the Detroit S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller indices for the June release.
When the sale transaction data flow resumes for Wayne County, S&P Dow Jones Indices and CoreLogic will provide estimated Detroit index values for months with missing updates.
YEAR-OVER-YEAR
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 4.7% annual gain in April, up from 4.6% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 3.4%, remaining the same as last month. The 20-City Composite posted a 4.0% year-over-year gain, up from 3.9% in the previous month.
Phoenix, Seattle and Minneapolis reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 19 cities (excluding Detroit) in April. Phoenix led the way with an 8.8% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle with a 7.3% increase and Minneapolis with a 6.4% increase. Twelve of the 19 cities reported higher price increases in the year ending April 2020 versus the year ending March 2020.
MONTH-OVER-MONTH
The National Index posted a 1.1% month-over-month increase, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites posted increases of 0.7% and 0.9% respectively before seasonal adjustment in April. After seasonal adjustment, the National Index posted a month-over-month increase of 0.5%, while the 10-City and 20-City Composites both posted 0.3% increases. In April, all 19 cities (excluding Detroit) reported increases before seasonal adjustment, while 16 of the 19 cities reported increases after seasonal adjustment.
ANALYSIS
"April's housing price data continue to be remarkably stable," says Craig J. Lazzara, Managing Director and Global Head of Index Investment Strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices. "The National Composite Index rose by 4.7% in April 2020, with comparable growth in the 10- and 20-City Composites (up 3.4% and 4.0%, respectively). In all three cases, April's year-over-year gains were ahead of March's, continuing a trend of gently accelerating home prices that began last fall. Results in April continued to be broad-based. Prices rose in each of the 19 cities for which we have reported data, and price increases accelerated in 12 cities.
"As was the case in March, we have data from only 19 cities this month, since transactions records for Wayne County, Michigan (in the Detroit metropolitan area) continue to be unavailable. This is, so far, the only directly visible impact of COVID-19 on the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices. The price trend that was in place pre-pandemic seems so far to be undisturbed, at least at the national level. Indeed, prices in 12 of the 20 cities in our survey were at an all-time high in April.
"Among the cities, Phoenix retains the top spot for the 11th consecutive month, with a gain of 8.8% for April. Home prices in Seattle rose by 7.3%, followed by increases in Minneapolis (6.4%) and Cleveland (6.0%). Prices were particularly strong in the West and Southeast, and comparatively weak in the Northeast."
SUPPORTING DATA
Table 1 below shows the housing boom/bust peaks and troughs for the three composites along with the current levels and percentage changes from the peaks and troughs.
|
| 2006 Peak | 2012 Trough | Current | |||||
Index |
Level |
Date |
Level |
Date | From Peak
|
Level | From Trough
| From Peak
|
National | 184.61 | Jul-06 | 134.00 | Feb-12 | -27.4% | 217.72 | 62.5% | 17.9% |
20-City | 206.52 | Jul-06 | 134.07 | Mar-12 | -35.1% | 224.08 | 67.1% | 8.5% |
| 10-City | 226.29 | Jun-06 | 146.45 | Mar-12 | -35.3% | 236.58 | 61.5% | 4.5% |
