New data from Standard & Poor’s reveal a subtle deceleration of steadily rising home prices, causing some to speculate that a cooling off in the housing market may be on the horizon, even as the market remains far hotter than pre-pandemic levels.
S&P released its monthly Case-Shiller Home Price Index on Aug. 30, which raised eyebrows in the real estate industry because one data point may, some believe, have broad implications for housing markets in the near future.
The analytics firm found that home prices had risen 18 percent between July 2021 and July 2022. While this double-digit increase would have been incredible in a normal housing market, analysts are paying attention for an altogether different reason: This marks the first time in nearly three years that the annual rate of housing price appreciation was lower than the previous month (in May, this figure was a 19.9 percent annual gain)….