Home price gains across much of the country, including metro Denver, showed signs of slowing in October, according to the latest S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Indices, which came out on Wednesday.
“October marked another month of slowing home-price appreciation, but recent signs point to a gentle softening of the housing market, rather than a crash landing,” said Ralph McLaughlin, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic in a blog post on the numbers.
McLaughlin and other analysts argue the cooling should provide a respite for homebuyers who have been at a disadvantage the past several years.
“For the time being, this slowdown represents a return to fundamentals more than anything else, and to more balance between buyers and sellers,” said Zillow Senior Economist Aaron Terrazas
The composite index covering 20 large cities posted a 5-percent annual gain in October, down from 5.2 percent in September. Las Vegas home prices remain on fire, with its index rising 12.8 percent year-over-year. San Francisco’s index clocked a 7.9 percent gain, while Phoenix rose 7.7 percent.
The Denver index gained 6.9 percent year-over-year in October, which ranked fifth among cities. In the summer, annual gains in Denver’s index were running above 8 percent, and they were 7.3 percent in September.
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“The combination of higher mortgage rates and higher home prices rising faster than incomes and
wages means fewer people can afford to buy a house,” noted David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in the report. “Reduced affordability is slowing sales of both new and existing single family homes.”
Rates on a 30-year mortgage are running 4.75 percent versus 4 percent at the end of 2017, Blitzer said. Home prices nationally are up 54 percent since they reached their bottom in 2017, and significantly more in cities like Seattle and Denver, where the index is up more than 75 percent.
