Today, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released March 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 March 2016 index value was 130.01 before seasonal adjustment; this translates to a 30.01 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 1.9 percent from 127.61 in March 2015 to 130.01 in March 2016. This is similar to last month’s YOY growth rate of 1.8 percent.
• Chicago’s March 2016 home price level increased by 1.01 percent from the previous month. This rate is slightly higher than the 10-City and 20-City Composites’ respective 0.79 and 0.90 percent growth rates.
• In a press release, Standard & Poor’s Index Committee Chairman David M. Blitzer observed that, “Home prices are continuing to rise at a 5% annual rate, a pace that has held since the start of 2015. The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates. Another factor behind rising home prices is the limited supply of homes on the market. The number of homes currently on the market is less than two percent of the number of households in the U.S., the lowest percentage seen since the mid-1980s.”

The following charts illustrate home price comparison and trends.

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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