US house price growth eases in June

House prices in the US rose a touch less than expected in June, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite was up 5.1% on the year, down from an upwardly-revised 5.3% the previous month and missing expectations of a 5.2% increase.

Portland, Seattle, and Denver reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities over each of the last five months.

In June, Portland led the way with a 12.6% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle at 11%, and Denver with a 9.2% increase.

Six cities reported greater price increases in the year ending June 2016 versus the year ending May 2016.

“Home prices continued to rise across the country led by the west and the south,” said David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

“Overall, residential real estate and housing is in good shape. Sales of existing homes are at running at about 5.5 million units annually with inventory levels under five months, indicating a fairly tight market. Sales of new single family homes were at a 654,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate in July, the highest rate since November 2007. Housing starts in July topped an annual rate of 1.2 million units. While the real estate sector and consumer spending are contributing to economic growth, business capital spending continues to show weakness.”