Modest monthly gains in house prices were made in a closely watched home-price index, and the forecast is for increases to diminish over the next couple years.
For the month of May, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price 20-City Composite Home Price Index was 179.03.
That put the widely watched index at 1.1 percent more than where it stood as of a month earlier.
The month-over-month gain was the same as in April
The index, along with
the 10-City Composite and national indices, was reported Tuesday by S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Among the 20 metropolitan areas included in the index, a 1.5 percent increase was experienced for Boston, Cleveland and Las Vegas — the most of any areas.
At just an 0.7 percent month-over-month increase, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tampa, Florida, saw the smallest rise.
Compared to the same month last year, the Composite-20 index has risen 4.9 percent.
In Denver, the year-over-year increase was 10.0 percent — the only major area to experience a double-digit rise.
At the other end of the spectrum was Washington, D.C., where the increase in home prices was just 1.3 percent versus May 2014.
The U.S. National Home Price Index, which covers all nine U.S. census divisions, was also up 1.1 percent from May.
The year-over-year increase for the National Home Price Index index was 4.4 percent.
“Over the next two years or so, the rate of home price increases is more likely to slow than to accelerate,” David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, stated in the report. “Prices are increasing about twice as fast as inflation or wages. Moreover, other housing measures are less robust.”
