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.”