US house prices rise in March - S&P/Case-Shiller

House prices in the US rose more than expected in March, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.

The 20-City Composite index was up 5.9% year-on-year, the same as the month before and beating expectations for a slowdown to 5.7%. This marked the biggest increase since July 2014.

Meanwhile, the national home price NSA index covering all nine US census divisions saw a 5.8% annual gain in March.

Seattle, Portland, and Dallas reported the highest year-over-year gains among the 20 cities. In March, Seattle led the way with a 12.3% year-over-year price increase, followed by Portland with 9.2%, and Dallas with an 8.6% jump. Ten cities reported higher price increases in the year ending March 2017 than in the year ending February 2017.

David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: "Sales of both new and existing homes, housing starts and the National Association of Home Builders’ sentiment index are all trending higher. Over the last year, analysts suggested that one factor pushing prices higher was the unusually low inventory of homes for sale.

"People are staying in their homes longer rather than selling and trading up. If mortgage rates, currently near 4%, rise further, this could deter more people from selling and keep pressure on inventories and prices. While prices cannot rise indefinitely, there is no way to tell when rising prices and mortgage rates will force a slowdown in housing."