Home prices in U.S. rise for fourth month with inventory tight

Home prices in the U.S. climbed for a fourth month as demand coupled with tight inventory to push values higher.

A national gauge of prices rose 0.7% in May from April, according to seasonally adjusted data from S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller.

Buyers have been competing for a shortage of listings, generating bidding wars in some areas of the country. In the four weeks through July 16, the total number of homes listed for sale was down 16% from a year earlier, according to data from Redfin.

“Home prices in the U.S. began to fall after June 2022, and May’s data bolster the case that the final month of the decline was January 2023,” Craig Lazzara, managing director at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said in the statement Tuesday. “The breadth and strength of May’s report are consistent with an optimistic view of future months.”

The housing market cooled over the past year as a surge in borrowing costs kept some buyers on the sidelines. On a year-over-year basis, prices nationally were down 0.5%, compared with a 0.1% drop in April.

The top cities for price gains have shifted in recent months from warmer climates to cities further north. Chicago, Cleveland and New York posted some of the biggest price increases in a measure of 20 cities, the first time in five years that a cold-weather city held the top spot.

Tight supply may continue to make it fairly expensive for some buyers.

“Limited inventory relative to buyer demand will likely keep prices somewhat afloat,” said Hannah Jones, an economic research analyst at Realtor.com. “However, these trends vary greatly market to market.”