WASHINGTON (TopMcxtips.com) — U.S. home prices were just about not changed in September, as annual growth cooled to the slowest year-over-year pace in two years, moving the market closer to sustainable gains, according to data released Tuesday.
A gauge of home prices in 20 cities ticked down .03% in September, as the summer sales market wrapped up, following an increase of 0.2% in August, S&P/Case-Shiller reported. It’s typical to see unadjusted home prices slow in September — purchases drop off as the new school year gets underway.
Among 20 tracked cities, September housing prices fell in nine, rose in nine, and were unchanged in the remaining two.
After seasonal adjustments, home prices among the 20 cities rose 0.3% in September — the strongest result in six months — compared with a 0.1% decline August.
Meanwhile, annual growth slowed down, with year-over-year home prices rising 4.9% in September — the slowest pace since October 2012 — compared with annual growth of 5.6% in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones Newswires had expected year-over-year price growth to slow to 4.8% in September.
These results echoed separate housing data released earlier this month that showed September hitting the slowest annual appreciations in two years.
Annual home-price growth hasn’t been in the double digits since April, and slower appreciation may lure buyers. Through September home prices were about 16% below a 2006 peak, according to S&P/Case-Shiller.