- Prior was +0.2%
- Prices up 0.9% m/m vs 1.1% expected (1.2% prior)
- FHFA monthly home price 0.0% vs +0.1% prior (revised to +0.2%)
- FHFA prices +1.7% y/y vs 1.8% prior
For background, the S&P Cotality Case-Shiller 20-City Composite Home Price Index, published monthly by S&P Dow Jones Indices and produced in partnership with Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), is one of the most closely watched gauges of U.S. residential real estate. The series, originally developed by economists Karl Case and Robert Shiller, uses a repeat-sales methodology: it tracks changes in the price of the same single-family homes over time, screening out new construction, condos, and co-ops, and adjusting for property quality. Twenty major metropolitan areas — from New York and Los Angeles to Tampa, Phoenix, and Cleveland — are combined into a value-weighted composite indexed to 100 in January 2000. The release uses a three-month moving average and arrives with a roughly two-month lag, with results published on the last Tuesday of each month at 9:00 a.m. ET. The next release, covering February 2026 data, is scheduled for April 28, 2026. (S&P recently rebranded the series as “S&P Cotality Case-Shiller” following Cotality’s name change.)
January 2026 data, released March 31, showed home price growth continuing to cool. The 20-City index rose 0.2% month-over-month seasonally adjusted, the sixth straight monthly gain, but was up just 1.2% from a year earlier — the weakest annual pace since July 2023 and a touch below consensus of 1.3%. The broader U.S. National index slowed to 0.9% year-over-year, and the 10-City Composite to 1.7%. With CPI running at 2.4% over the same period, real home values declined modestly.
Geographic dispersion remained wide. New York led with a 4.9% annual gain, followed by Chicago (+4.6%) and Cleveland (+3.6%), while Tampa fell 2.5% and former Sun Belt boom markets including Phoenix, Dallas, and Miami posted small declines.
This article was written by Adam Button at investinglive.com.
