US home prices soar at record pace in June

FILE - In this Oct. 6, 2020 file photo, a real estate brokerage sign stands in front of a house in Norwood, Mass. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in March for the second straight month as buyers grappled with a stubbornly low inventory of available properties and fierce competition pushed prices to new highs. The National Association of Realtors said Thursday, April 22, 2021 that existing home sales fell 3.7% last month from February to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 6.01 million annualized units. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. home prices jumped by a record amount in June as homebuyers competed for a limited supply of available houses, the latest evidence that the housing market remains red-hot.

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index jumped 19.1% in June compared with a year earlier, the largest increase on records dating back to 2000. The annual price gains in June were higher in all 20 cities than they were in May. Prices are now at record highs in 19 of the 20 cities, with the exception of Chicago.

“The last several months have been extraordinary not only in the level of price gains, but in the consistency of gains across the country,” said Craig Lazzara, managing director of index investment strategy at S&P DJI.

There are signs that the high prices are cooling sales a bit. Sales of existing homes rose 1.5% in July from a year earlier. The number of homes for sale, while still historically low, rose 7% in July from the previous month.

Prices rose by the most in Phoenix, where they soared 29.3% compared with a year earlier, followed by San Diego, with a 27.1% increase, and Seattle, at 25%.