US house prices rise less than expected in May

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

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index was up 5.2% in May, down from a 5.4% increase in April and missing consensus expectations for 5.5% growth.

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

In May, Portland led the way with a 12.5% year-over-year price increase, followed by Seattle at 10.7%, and Denver with a 9.5% increase

David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, said: “Overall, housing is doing quite well. In addition to strong prices, sales of existing homes reached the highest monthly level since 2007 as construction of new homes showed continuing gains.

“The SCE Housing Expectations Survey published by the New York Federal Reserve Bank shows that consumers expect home prices to continue rising, though at a somewhat slower pace.”