Home prices unexpectedly fall in July
Over the prior year, prices rose 5%.
Both of these reading were less than expected.
Expectations were for the report to show prices rose 0.1% in July compared to the prior month and rose 5.15% over the prior year.
The report showed that compared to the prior year, the largest increases were seen in San Francisco and Denver, where home prices rose more than 10%, while home prices in Dallas were up 8.7% from the prior year.
"Prices of existing homes and housing overall are seeing strong growth and contributing to recent solid growth for the economy," David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices said in a release. "The S&P/Case Shiller National Home Price Index has risen at a 4% or higher annual rate since September 2012, well ahead of inflation. Most of the strength is focused on states west of the Mississippi."
In a note to clients following the report, Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macro said that other housing data, notably existing home sales, indicate that home prices are rising more than the Case-Shiller report suggests, adding that, "In short, these data attract a good deal of attention but they don't seem to tell us anything new. Ignore."