Today, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released July 2016 values for its Case-Shiller Home Price Index, which tracks the prices of existing single-family homes in 20 U.S. metro areas. The index in each metropolitan area extends from a base value of 100 in January 2000. For example, Chicago’s July 2016 index value was 137.65 before seasonal adjustment; this translates to a 37.65 percent appreciation since January 2000 for a typical home in the Chicago market.

  • All 20 cities tracked and both composite indices showed positive year-over-year returns. In Chicago, the index increased 3.7 percent from 132.73 in July 2015 to 137.65 in July 2016 (a slight increase over last month’s YOY growth rate of 3.5 percent).
  • Chicago’s July 2016 home price level also increased by 0.9 percent from the previous month, outpacing the 10-City and 20-City Composites’ respective 0.5 percent and 0.6 percent growth rates.
  • In a press release, Standard & Poor’s Index Committee Managing Director and Chairman David M. Blitzer affirmed that “both the housing sector and the economy continue to expand with home prices continuing to rise at about a 5% annual rate.” Looking forward, he speculates that the Fed will raise interest rates in December, but “mortgage rates would still be at historically low levels and would not be a major negative for house prices.”
The following charts illustrate home price comparison and trends.
CaseCityComp 092716
CaseChicago 092716

Source: S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices

Note: The full press release and additional data can be found on the S&P website. values reflect non-seasonally adjusted data, which are typically more appropriate for annual comparisons than monthly ones; however, due to heightened volatility in recent housing values that can skew the seasonal adjustments, S&P recommends using the non-seasonally adjusted numbers, even for month-to-month comparisons.

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WBC’s “Economic Briefs” track indicators from month to month to gauge the strength of several aspects of Chicago’s economy, including unemployment, population, venture capital, job openings and new hires, home sales, tourism, etc. This data provides a clear analytic framework for specific Plan strategies and initiatives. For a summary of these and other economic indicators, refer to WBC’s monthly Chicago By The Numbers.

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