Case-Shiller Home Price Index, May 2016

Today, Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released May 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 May 2016 index value was 135.28 before seasonal adjustment; this translates to a 35.28 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 130.47 in May 2015 to 135.28 in May 2016. This is a higher growth rate than last month’s YOY growth rate of 3.0 percent.
• Chicago’s May 2016 home price level also increased by 1.8 percent from the previous month, outpacing the 10-City and 20-City Composites’ respective 0.8 percent and 0.9 percent growth rates.
• In a press release, Standard & Poor’s Index Committee Chairman David M. Blitzer observed that, “Home prices continue to appreciate across the country. Overall, housing is doing quite well. In addition to strong prices, sales of existing homes reached the highest monthly level since 2007 as construction of new homes showed continuing gains.”

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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