US home prices climbed again in July
WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rose again in July, pulled up by strong gains in Portland, Seattle and Denver.
The Standard & Poor’s CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index, released Tuesday, rose 5 per cent in July from a year earlier after increasing 5.1 per cent in June.
The latest report is further evidence that prices are being pushed higher by the limited inventory of homes on the market. That is hurting sales of both new and existing homes, despite buyer enthusiasm and historically low mortgage rates.
“With inventory still very tight, the pressure on home prices is all to the upside,” Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a research note.