Home Prices Fell Even Faster in August, But Still Up Big Year-Over-Year

Home Prices Fell Even Faster in August, But Still Up Big Year-Over-Year

Home prices fell sharply again in August according to the two leading home price indices, both released this morning.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) logged a month-over-month decline of 0.7%--a modest acceleration from the 0.6% decline seen in July.  The S&P Case Shiller 20 city index fell 1.3% in today's report compared to a 0.7% drop last month. Does this mean prices are falling?  Technically, yes.  Using FHFA as an example, it means that a home that sold for $397k in June would have sold for roughly $392k in August.  Moreover, the shift from gains to losses has been incredibly abrupt.  The following chart shows the different in the monthly price movement from the same period last year.  As abrupt as the shift has been in terms of the monthly trajectory,